The OC Season 2: It's all unpredictable
by Brabbittt25
Summary: The OC Season 2... It's all unpredicatable. This is the same story I've been posting on Fox' OC messageboards. This story is now up to date with the on the messageboards. Please read and review.
1. The Scare

10

**CHAPTER 1: THE SCARE**

ON A CONSTRUCTION SITE:

"Watch where you're going with that thing, man," Matt yells as Ryan he walks past his foreman nearly bumping him on the side of the head.

"Sorry," Ryan mumbles and carries on his way.

"I just don't know what up with that kid. He hasn't been the same since he's been back," Matt says turning to Vaughn, his colleague. "Anyway, I'm going to lunch."

"Ry, why don't you take the rest of the day off? You look like you could need the break – I've cover for you," Matt says caringly to Ryan.

"Thanks. I'll see you in the morning?" Ryan says.

"Sure." Matt responds. But instead of going home, he decides to take a walk and try getting his thought patterns together. He walks for what seems like miles and hours. It's becoming dark and Ryan decides to take a bus back home.

KIRSTEN'S OFFICE:

Sandy walks in to Kirsten's office; kissing her on the cheek, he says, "Hey gorgeous, wanna go out for lunch? I'll even pay this time."

"Not today, Sandy. My father's called this big meeting this afternoon and it sounds serious." Kirsten replies.

"You mean you are blowing me off for your father?" Sandy says sarcastically.

"Please Sandy; I'm not in the mood right now." Kirsten answers sounding kind of irritated.

"I know. And it's not just right now, you've been out of the mood for the past few months. Are you sure you're not pregnant, 'cause it seems to be going around lately." Sandy says comically.

Kirsten forces a smile and gives Sandy a kiss. "I tell you what, let's do dinner. Just the two of us and I'll cook my specialty... take outs."

"Sounds like a date to me. See you at home." Sandy says as he kisses her once more before leaving her office.

He bumps in to Caleb on the way out.

"Cal! Always good to see you! You're looking good for a poor son of a bitch." Sandy says.

"Can it Sanford, I'm not in the mood." Caleb answers.

"I wouldn't be either if I were you. You know you should get together with Jimmy! I'm sure he'll be more than willing to give you tips on how to live the bachelors' lifestyle again!" Sandy says as he turns and walks down the hall.

Caleb walks in to Kirsten's office.

"Kiki, are those financial statements ready for the meeting this afternoon? I'm going to need them for the meeting." Caleb asks Kirsten.

"Sure, you'll have them within the hour." Kirsten replies.

"Kiki, I want you to know that whatever happens to me, I will always love you and everything I did I did with your best interests in mind." Caleb says in a sobering tone.

"Thanks dad, I'll keep that in mind." Looking a bit confused as her dad leaves the office.

TERESA'S HOUSE BACK IN CHINO:

Ryan gets off the bus four hours later just down the road from Teresa's place. He has walked this road many times before, and it brings back memories for him – some he looks back fondly on; most he wishes he could erase from his memory bank forever. He thinks back on the last two years that have been, how he thought his dreams would never come true – life outside Chino seemed so far away. Impossible, until... ... He pauses... ... Until the Cohen's... Sandy, Kirsten... Seth. Seth... the closest friend he's ever had... his brother.

He enters the front gate.

"Ryan!"

His thoughts are interrupted...

"Ryan, welcome home."

He hears an all-to-familiar voice. Home... is this home?

"Ryan, come inside, Dinner will be ready in about half an hour."

"Thanks, but I'm not really hungry. I think I'll take a bath and get an early night." I'll be there now." He replies to Teresa's mom's invitation.

He walks through the front door as he has done for the past 7 months since he's been back in Chino.

"Teresa's still at work. She just phoned to say she's taking a second shift." Teresa's mom says.

"She really shouldn't do that. The baby is due in 2 months." Ryan responds.

"I know, but you know how stubborn she can be. And besides she really wants to do her best to save as much as possible for the baby." Teresa's mom replies. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just had a long day, that's all." Ryan responds.

"Ryan, can I ask you a question?" Teresa's mom asks tentatively, and not waiting for a reply, she continues. "Why are you here? I know the whole story of wanting to help Teresa and not wanting the kid to grow up in an abusive environment like yourself, but besides that. Back in Newport, you had everything any of us ever wanted. Why give that up?"

Again, not waiting for a reply, and Ryan taken aback a little by this sudden unexpected conversation, not knowing what to say, Teresa's mom continues...

"How do you expect to look after the kid? You work a 10 hour a day job, you are only 17, haven't yet finished high school and you are now facing the very real probability of being a father. What kind of life do you think the child will have if his father is an uneducated 17 year old who will never be home?"

Their conversation is cut short as the phone rings. Teresa's mom answers.

"Saved by the bell," Ryan thinks, relieved.

"Oh my god, is she okay?" Teresa's mom says, almost yelling...

"I cannot talk over the phone, just come down to the hospital." The call replies and hangs up.

"What's wrong?" Ryan asks, concerned.

"Teresa is in hospital. I've got to go." Teresa's mom replies frantically.

"I'm coming," Ryan says.

"Let's go." Teresa's mom answers, grabbing her keys as she races out the door.

IN MARISSA'S BEDROOM, THE CASTLE

Marissa is lying on her bed, thinking about everything that has happened during the recent summer break. How things were supposed to be just normal. How her and Ryan were going to work things out. After all he had said he wanted to make it work between them. That was before Teresa came on the scene. Teresa. Her name just made Marissa slip in to an even deeper state of depression. How could Ryan have just left like that? Was everything they meant to each other nothing to him? How could he? Her disappointment turns to anger. HOW COULD HE! And to top it all off she now is forced to stay with Caleb and her mom – probably the two people she dislikes the most of all. HOW COULD HE LEAVE HER! She needed him as much as Teresa!

"Coop? You up here?" Summer calls from the hallway leading to Marissa's room. "Coop. you okay?"

"Yeah. Can we just get out here?" Marissa says as she gets up off her bed. "This place depresses me and just makes me think of what could have... should have been."

"Sure Coop." Summer replies.

They head downstairs and make their way to the beach.

WALKING ON THE BEACH...

"So how thing's going with you and Seth?" Marissa asks, trying to get the attention off of herself.

"Cohen? I dunno, me and him... it's just weird lately. He hasn't been the same since Ryan left and since he..., well, took off." Summer replies.

"But at least he came back."

"Yeah, but it's not the same. He's not the same. I'm trying to be supportive and all, but it's difficult. Sympathy is not what I do best."

"I can't believe he just left... no goodbye... not even a phone call...." Marissa says out of anger and kicks the sand.

"Yeah, where did he expect to go in that stupid little boat of his?" Summer adds.

"What?" Marissa responds not having heard what Summer just said. "Ryan... oh... I was talking about Ryan."

"Oh, right... ... ... I knew that." Summer answers. "Coop, I think we should just spend this semester being normal. Go back to how it was... just you and me. No guys, no problems."

"That sounds like a plan, but remember the last time we tried that..." Marissa's comment trails off as she thinks back on how they had tried to be normal last summer and everything just went crazy.

"what's that, Coop?"

"No, nothing. I think that's a great idea."

AT A HOSPITAL IN CHINO

Ryan and Teresa's mom walk up to the information desk. A doctor and a nurse are standing on the other side. The nurse turns her attention to visitors.

"I'm looking for my daughter: Sanchez, Teresa Sanchez. She was brought in here about an hour or so ago." Teresa's mom enquires of the nurse.

"Ah, Mrs Sanchez I presume? I'm the doctor who treated your daughter when she came in earlier." The doctor on the other side of the counter interrupts.

"Is she okay doctor?" Ryan asks.

"... and you are?..." the doctor begins enquiring.

"A close friend." Ryan retorts.

"The father?" The doctor pushes.

"No... maybe..." Ryan answers feeling a bit awkward.

"I see. Well anyway, she gave us all quite a scare. She was apparently complaining about some cramps in her stomach and a bad headache, and then she passed out. We have run some tests on her and we're hoping to get the results back within the hour. I'll be able to let you know more then." The doctor says.

"Thanks doctor. Can we go in to see her?" Teresa's mom says.

"Sure, but she's sleeping now and I think it best that she gets her rest, so only for a few minutes if you don't mind. She's in room 213." the doctor replies.

Ryan and Teresa's mom head off to room 213, but the doctor calls Teresa's mom back.

"Mrs Sanchez, can I have a word with you for a second?" The doctor asks.

"Ryan, you go ahead. I'll be there now." Ryan goes on ahead and enters Teresa's room.

Teresa's mom turns back towards the doctor.

"Ma'am, if you don't mind me asking, how old is your daughter?" The doctor asks.

"17, why is there a problem?" Teresa's mom answers, just a little surprise by the doctors line of questioning.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush. Teresa has quite a big scare this afternoon. I believe it was stress and anxiety that brought on the cramps and headaches. A teenager is barely equipped physically, let alone emotionally and mentally to endure what Teresa is going through."

"What are you suggesting?" Teresa's mom asks, skeptically.

"I have seen many cases like this where a teenage girl falls pregnant and although she'll convince herself things will be okay, they very often aren't. All I'm trying to say is that Teresa shouldn't rule out the possibility of putting her baby up for adoption. As her parent and legal guardian, you also have a responsibly toward your daughter and I think that Teresa keeping this baby will do a lot more harm than good for both her, the baby and yourself. The problem will be accentuated by the absence of the father too."

"Well, thank you for your comments and I appreciate your concern. I'll talk to her, but I really don't think she'll like the idea." Teresa's mom replies.

"I can get a consultant from Planned Parenting to come and chat to Teresa if you think it will help." The doctor suggests.

"Thanks that may work." Teresa's mom answers, and makes her way toward Teresa's room.

In side the room, Ryan is sitting on the chair next to a sleeping Teresa. Teresa's mom enters.

"She's still sleeping," Ryan says as Teresa's mom enters.

"I think we should just leave her to rest. We can wait for the results to come in and then go. The doctor wants to keep her here over night for observation." Teresa's mom replies.

"I'll probably stay with her tonight then," Ryan answers.

Just then a nurse enters the room.

"The tests have all come back fine. Her blood pressure is a bit high, which also confirms our concerns about her stress levels. She needs to slow down. She'll be full-term in about 6 weeks and if she keeps this up the babies could be born prematurely..."

"Babies? You meant to say, baby, right?" Ryan asks as he stands up.

"No, I mean babies." The nurse confirms as he looks over his papers again. "You did know she was pregnant with twins didn't you?"

"Twins?" Ryan says almost flabbergasted.

"Yes, you are your girlfriend..." the nurse starts

"She not my girlfriend! We are just friends." Ryan replies, slightly irritated now. In the last 5 minutes he has experienced every possible emotion he could.

Teresa's eyes were still closed, but a tear ran down her cheek. She'd only pretended to be asleep. She had heard everything.

SETH DAYDREAMING... MEMORIES FROM EARLIER IN THE SUMMER...

SOMEWHERE IN CATALINA

"Seth, you have got to get in this water! It is just perfect!" Deborah yells as she pops back up through the water's surface after a clean, crisp dive in.

"Will be there now, just finishing off this last chapter."

Seth is busy writing a comic of his own. It's not a comic about superheroes and villains, or talking cats and dogs. It's the story of two friends who could not be more different, yet more alike at the same time, and how they had overcome all adversity to become the best friends ever. This is what he's been doing for the past few months. It's the only way he knows how to deal with everything that has happened in his life recently. It's not that he had run away, he simply needed some time to himself. To find himself. He had given all his contact details to his parents and Summer in letters address to them just before he left. His only dilemma now was how to end this final chapter.

"Seth, you know you are going to have to go back at some stage right?" His thoughts are invaded as his new found friend, Tracey, speaks.

Tracey had been the one who had helped Seth out when he docked at Catalina and she had offered him a place to stay when he arrived. She had been there for him and he had grown to like her... a lot. But he didn't dare allow himself to fall for her as at the back of his mind Summer was the one for him, even if she wasn't there right now. He had always loved her and wasn't willing to let anything get in the way of that.

"You know, I was actually thinking of taking a semester off to finish this comic." Seth replies.

"Now I know you are out of your mind! Seth, you are only in high school. Who in their right mind would take time off school no less to write a comic no less again!! Come on man!" Tracey retorts.

"Well, thanks for that brutally honest reply. You know how I feel about going back there. I explained to you what it was like before Ryan and..." Seth is cut short.

"... and you need to now face up to it. You are not the same person you were before. Hiding is not going to solve anything. Be real with yourself man. Sure Ryan is gone and he may not come back, but if you are going to let this thing affect you so badly, maybe you were better off having never met Ryan." Tracey said

"How can you say that? You have no idea how terrible it was... it is... to be a nothing. Ryan was always there for me and now with him gone..." Seth is cut off again.

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. Take it as a life experience Seth, learn from it and move on." Tracey says as she puts a reassuring hand on his leg. "You are going to be alright man. You've got Summer and by the sounds of things she's an amazing person."

"That she is... and so are you." Seth smiles at her.

"Are you two coming in, or do I have to come over there and get you?" Deborah yells as she climbs out the pool.

Seth and Tracey both look at each other. Knowing what the other is thinking, they jump up and run towards Deborah; grabbing her on either side the three of them jump in to the pool together. Summer break is almost over...

"Seth! Seth! SETH!!!" His is awoken from his day dream by the sound of his father's voice as he enters his bedroom.

"Yes, father, you summoned?" Seth says sarcastically as he sits up.

"Your mom and I are going out for a little romantic dinner tonight... some candle light... and maybe some dessert." Sandy informs Seth.

"Ok, over-share." Seth retorts.

"Will you be ok here on your own?" Sandy proceeds, ignoring Seth's sarcasm.

"Yes, yes, I think I can hold the fort down for a while. I mean I've been alone the whole summer, what difference is one more night going to make, right?" Seth replies.

Sandy can see his son is still hurting over Ryan leaving and he knows it will probably still take quite some time to get through the whole thing.

"Seth I want you to know that your mom and I will always be here for you. Please, don't hesitate to ask." Sandy reassures his son.

Just then Kirsten comes down the stairs looking as radiant as ever.

"Seth, you're going to be okay?" Kirsten asks her son as Sandy puts his arm over her shoulders.

"Yes, mom, I'll be fine. Go and enjoy yourselves." Seth again reassures them.

Sandy and Kirsten walk out the front door.

Seth lies back down in bed. Tears welling up in his eyes as he pulls out the map Ryan handed to him before he left...

"It's going to be a long year ahead," He thinks to himself.

FOLLOWING MORNING IN THE COHEN'S KITCHEN

It's Saturday morning and Sandy and Kirsten walk in to the kitchen together, where Seth is sitting at the counter munching on some dry cereal and reading the newspaper – comic section to be more precise.

"Morning son," Kirsten greets Seth.

"Morning," Seth replies.

"Got any plans for today?" Sandy asks, trying to make conversation.

"I'm starting that weekend job at the Crab Shack this morning, and then maybe go sailing later..." Seth begins

Kirsten looks over at Sandy with a worried glance. Seth, sensing their fear, continues, "Don't worry; I'm not intending to sail off the edge of the world this time," he finishes sarcastically.

"Good to hear it," Sandy says, "Now, I'm going out for a surf."

BACK AT THE HOSPITAL

Ryan wakes up the following morning on the sofa in the hospital's waiting area. He had stayed the night with Theresa; Theresa's mom had gone home. He gets up and walks over to the coffee vending machine, puts in a few coins and gets out a nice strong cup of coffee. He talks a few sips and makes his way over to Theresa's room.

He walks in to find her eyes closed. She's asleep. Twins. Had he been dreaming, or is it true that he could be the father of two children. This is not how he thought his life would be just before his eighteenth birthday.

Just then Theresa turns in her bed and awakes.

"Morning," Ryan says softly to Theresa.

"What? Where am ... ... Oh." Theresa suddenly remembers where she is.

"How'd you sleep?" Ryan quizzes her.

"Fine." She says.

There's an awkward silence.

"you want some..." Ryan begins to offer her some thing to drink.

"I didn't know," Theresa begins.

"I know. We'll work this thing through. You just need to relax and not get worked up about it." Ryan responds.

"You should go. Get to work." Theresa says.

"Are you going to be okay?" Ryan asks

"I'm in hospital. Who's ever okay when they're in hospital?" Theresa says with a half smile, trying to console Ryan and put his mind at ease. "I'll be fine. Just going to wait for the doctor's verdict on whether I can go home today or not."

"Ok, I'll come see you later after my shift," Ryan says. He gives her a kiss and leaves.


	2. The Boss

**CHAPTER 2: THE BOSS**

RECAP:

Its 7 months later. Ryan is now working a summer job as a construction worker trying to rake in some cash for Theresa and the baby.

Theresa is rushed to hospital after collapsing at work. There Ryan discovers that she is actually pregnant with twins; however he resolves in his mind that he is going to stick to his decision to stand with Theresa through everything.

Summer and Marissa vow to have a normal year without boy problems. Marissa is angry with Ryan for leaving, and Summer is confused about where things stand with her and Seth.

Seth reminisces about his summer trip and what life will be like at school without Ryan. Seth has picked up a weekend job at the Crab Shack.

SATURDAY MID MORNING AT THE NICHOL MANSION

The doorbell rings and Marissa comes down the stairs to answer it. Two men dressed similarly to the guys who a year ago came looking for her dad are standing there.

"Can I help you?" She asks them, feeling a little déjavù.

"We're looking for Mr Nichol," they reply, not interested in making small conversation.

"He's not here," Marissa answers coldly.

"You wouldn't be lying to us again like earlier last year would you?" they persist.

"Honestly, I don't know what you're talking about and I don't know where Caleb is... and I don't care either." Marissa replies, feeling very annoyed at being called a liar.

The two men look at each other. Marissa sees that they are not amused and she continues: "You can try his office. He spends most of his time there now days. Can't blame him – I wouldn't be here either if I could help it."

"Thank you. If you see him can you please let him know we need to talk to him urgently," the men reply and hand Marissa a business card.

Marissa closes the door and heads back towards the stairs. She is stopped by her mom coming down the stairs.

"Who was at the door sweetie?" Julie asks.

"I don't know," she replies coldly and hands her the business card. "Looks like you're going to have to find yourself another rich boyfriend," Marissa says sarcastically as she side-steps her mom and walks up the stairs to her room.

"Marissa. MARISSA! Get back here immediately!" Julie yells behind her daughter, but her instructions are just ignored as Marissa slams the door to her room.

Julie looks at the card as she makes her way toward the kitchen. She decides to phone Kirsten for some answers.

"Hello?" Kirsten answers the phone.

"Kirsten! Hi! Just the person I'd like to talk to." Julie says in a fake-friendly kind of way.

"Hi Julie. How are you?" Kirsten responds.

"I don't know. Some men just showed up here looking for your dad. They said they were from the DA's office. Do you know anything about this, Kirsten?" Julie says.

Kirsten's silent on the other end; a little shocked.

"Kirsten?" Julie checks if Kirsten's still there.

"Yes. I... I don't know Julie. Maybe you should speak to him. I'm not sure..."

"Kirsten, if you know anything..."

"I don't. All I know is that the Newport Group has suffered a few financial set-backs, but my dad normally finds a way out of these things."

"Well, I'm going to get the story out of him. I didn't marry him just to be left with nothing again..."

"Julie!" Kirsten cuts her off in shock at Julie's response to the news.

"Bye Kirsten. Chat later."

With that Julie puts the phone down and leaves the house.

BACK AT THE COHEN'S HOME

Kirsten standing in the kitchen still with the phone in her hand as Sandy walks in coming back from his surf.

"Who was on the phone?" Sandy asks.

"Julie." Kirsten responds.

"Ah. What extravagantly-way-over-the-top charity event are you dragging me to this time? A fancy dress? Oh I hope it's a fancy dress – I always did like those during my Berkley days. We used to pretend we were rich and famous!" Sandy replies in his usual sarcastic, cynical way.

"No, it was about my dad." Kirsten replies, ignoring Sandy's banter as she usually does.

"Aahh" Sandy replies.

"She said some guys from the DA came around looking for him." Kirsten continues, "He said in the meeting yesterday that the Newport Group was in a few financial battles, but that he had some plans and we had nothing to be concerned about." She pauses and looks at Sandy: "I'm going down to the office to see if he's okay."

"I'll drive," Sandy says, getting more serious now.

They both leave the house together.

AT THE NEWPORT GROUP OFFICES, CALEB'S OFFICE

Caleb Nichol is sitting at his desk looking very dejected and defeated. He is paging through a file containing all the financial records and investments for the past five years. He knows that unless he gets another big investor in soon, he and the entire Newport Group will be a thing of the past.

At this point Julie walks in to his office without knocking.

"Cal, what is going on? Two men..." Julie begins without even so much as a hello.

"Juju, please. Now's not the time or the place. I am very busy. I'll tell you everything this evening." Caleb cuts her off.

"No, Cal. If you are in any kind of trouble I want to know about it now." Julie insists.

"... And so do I," Kirsten says as she also walks in to his office – no knocking.

Sandy, with a big smirk on his face says, "Ooh, Cal I bet you wishing now that I had punched you in the Vegas, because that way you'd be in hospital and wouldn't have this difficult situation on your hands!"

"Sandy, could you please explain the situation to your wife and Julie, I'm just too..." Caleb begins, trying to get out of a difficult situation.

"Oh no, I'm not touching this one. This you did all by yourself." Sandy says.

Kirsten turns to Sandy, "You knew about this and didn't tell me?" Kirsten says to him, hurting now about another secret that is being kept from her.

Caleb, realizing the gig is up, gives in and begins explaining that the Newport Group had made some bad investments and that these investors now have it in for him as the company seems to be going under.

"But I had no idea... the books all look good, we are showing a rapid growth up on the last three years..." Kirsten begins, feeling very confused now.

"That's because your division, Real Estate, has been the only profitable wing of the business, Kiki." Caleb explains.

Just then, the phone rings.

"Mr Nichol, sorry to disturb you, sir, but two men who say they're from the DA's office are here to see you," The security guard at the front desk announces.

"Ok, send them up," Caleb replies. Turning to Kirsten, he says, "Kiki, you are number two here at the Newport Group, and I am now placing you in charge for a little while." He hands her the file he's been paging through. "This file contains all the financial records and investors' information of the company. Potential investors are in here too. Now, I have set up a meeting with the board and a high-profile investor who is interested in the Group. Kiki, I want you to run that meeting. You can fill the board in on what has transpired so far if you wish. I leave it in your capable hands."

The two men enter Caleb's office.

"Caleb Nichol?" One of the men enquires.

"You guys certainly take your time, don't you?" Caleb says to them not seeming all that distracted.

"We have some questions for you," the officer says, ignoring Caleb. "Will you come with us please?"

The men place Caleb under arrest and real him his rights.

"Officers, I am Mr Nichol's attorney. Please don't ask him any questions until I get there." Sandy says, being very serious now. "Cal, say nothing until I arrive."

"Thanks, Sandy." Caleb answers.

"Let's go." The men take Caleb away.

Julie, still standing there, has been silent for probably the first time in her life, while Caleb was explaining everything, now speaks out.

"Well this is just great. What am I going to do now? I have lived through this once with Jimmy. I will NOT go through it again." Julie says and storms out the office, leaving Kirsten and Sandy standing there.

Sandy hugs his wife tightly as she begins to sob uncontrollably. It has been a long and difficult summer for everyone in Orange County. Ryan's leaving and then Seth tore the community apart, but no one felt it as hard as Kirsten had.

"It's going to be okay, honey." Sandy reassures her.

"How's this going to be okay?" Kirsten asks through tears. "We lost both our boys before summer began. Ryan's still gone and may not come back, and now my father's probably going to San Quinton."

"We'll work it out. We always do." Sandy reassures Kirsten again, but this time feeling as skeptical as his wife.

THAT EVENING AT THE COHEN RESIDENCE

Kirsten is sifting through papers at the dining room table.

Sandy and Seth are playing video games in front of the TV.

Kirsten is now feeling a bit better. Sandy spent most of the afternoon at the DA's office trying to arrange a deal to keep Caleb out of jail... at least for the weekend 'til he can work his magic on Monday. The deal was sealed with the proviso that Caleb is not to go near the Newport offices or the financial records until further notice.

The doorbell rings.

"Oh honey, could you get that. I'm about to teach Seth a lesson in one-on-one combat." Sandy says.

"Oh, you think so hey... really?" Seth replies between moves on the game pad.

But before Kirsten gets up, in walks Caleb and Julie.

"Ah, the Gruesome Twosome," Sandy teases.

"Dad, come one, at least they knocked!" Seth continues.

"This is true." Sandy replies.

"Hello Seth. Having a good summer?" Caleb says.

"Yes, exactly how I planned it." Seth mumbles back. He gets up and goes upstairs to him bedroom, realizing the game is now over.

"Sandy I just wanted to say thanks for what you did this afternoon," Caleb says to Sandy, showing some real signs of gratitude.

"Ah, anything for you Cal. You know I'll take any opportunity to hold one over on you." Sandy says, not able to give up a perfect chance to be smug.

Kirsten looks at him; he gives her a little smile back.

"Kiki, I have decided for the interim to make Julie your right-hand man... person." Caleb says to Kirsten.

"Dad. I don't need a right-hand man... person." Kirsten protests.

"Now, Kiki, in that meeting on Monday you are going to need some backup and I think Julie has some good ideas about how to work it out. It'll give the two of you some time to catch up. And you've always been worked well together." Caleb continues, ignoring Kirsten's protest.

Julie sits down with Kirsten at the table and pulls a whole wad of papers from a folder she's been carrying.

"Kiki, this is what I was thinking: We need to blow the socks off these investors on Monday. Make then realize how investing in the Newport Group is the greatest thing since... well, ever." Julie says, getting right down to business.

"That's what I was thinking," replies Kirsten, again looking over at Sandy with a look of please-rescue-me. He just smiles back.

"Ah, well I'll leave you ladies to it. I'm confident this arrangement will have favorable consequences." Caleb says.

Caleb and Sandy leave the room to discuss finer details of the arrangement with the DA.

The doorbell rings again and this time Seth comes downstairs to answer it.

It's Summer.

THE NICHOL MANSION

The doorbell rings and Marissa rushes to open it. At first, during the first few weeks of Ryan's leaving, whenever she hears the door or the phone ring, a burst of excitement wells up within her as she hopes and prays that it would be Ryan. Slowly over time, this feeling of excitement and anticipation was replaced with disappointment and anger.

She opens the door to find her dad standing outside. She is not disappointed though.

Marissa and Jimmy have a close relationship and if anything her dad has been the one and only person to stand by her and not give up on her.

"Dad!" She exclaims and places her arms around him in a big hug. They had not seen each other for a couple of months as Jimmy had been away dealing with some emotional troubles of his own.

"Hey Kiddo. Great to see you too," Jimmy responds, hugging her tightly. As they let go of each other, he continues, "Your mom's not..."

"She's helping Kirsten and Caleb sort out his financial crisis and Caitlin is on camp this weekend, so I'm home alone." Marissa replies.

"Never thought I'd see the day HE goes under," Jimmy comments with a smirk on his face. "Things are definitely not all they appear in Orange County, are they?" He continues. "So how you doing? You,... you holding up?"

"Yeh, kind of." Marissa says.

He comes inside and Marissa goes to make some coffee. Jimmy sits down in the living room.

"This is a... ... nice house." He says. "Big."

"More like cold and dingy." Marissa says.

She hands her dad a cup of coffee and they sit and talk for a while.

"Heard from Ryan?" Jimmy asks.

"Ryan and I are so totally over. I don't want to hear from him or of him again. Theresa can have him." Marissa says angrily.

"So you have come to turns with it then? And you over the alcohol and drugs and..." Jimmy says kind of skeptical and somewhat sarcastically.

"Yes, I'm fine, honestly. Can we just not talk about Ryan?" Marissa says wanting to change the conversation quickly.

"Sure kiddo. You want to go get a Balboa Bar? I'll buy." Jimmy says, respecting Marissa's wish.

They head down to the pier. As they walk along the beachfront walkway, slowing liking away at their Balboa Bars, the conversation turns towards Jimmy and everything he's been through the summer.

He had decided, after Marissa moved in with her mom and Caleb, to buy a boathouse for Hailey and himself, instead of the mansion he had originally intended for him and Marissa. They had decided to sail the seven seas and their relationship was going well. In fact, it was going so well, Jimmy had proposed to marry Hailey. However, the following day she was gone. She had taken almost half his money, left an informal note about not being able to keep to commitments and disappeared. This was Hailey's style. She could never stick to one thing. She was a traveler and the thought of having to commit to something just freaked her out. After this, Jimmy had taken off for a few months and spent some time in Phoenix with his brother to try and straighten his life out and get some direction.

"So, dad, tell me about Phoenix. How was it?" Marissa asks her dad.

"It was good. I made some contacts and it was good to catch up with my brother again," Jimmy replies.

"Kiddo... I have something to tell you." Jimmy says after a long silence. "I have decided to move out to Phoenix."

Marissa stops dead in her tracks and is shocked by the news. Before she can say anything, Jimmy continues. "It's just that I think it will be good to make a clean break and I've made some business contacts while I was there and things could be looking up for me again if I go. You have your mom and Caleb and I think I'm just going to be in the way..." Jimmy is cut off.

"Dad, no, you cannot leave me with them." Marissa interrupts with a tone of desparation

"You know your mom only wants the best for you and despite everything she's done, she really does still love you. Me, I will only complicate your life even more." Jimmy answers.

"Take me with you then. There's nothing for me here. Ryan's gone. I will NOT STAY WITH MOM AND CALEB. If you go, I go." Marissa says adamantly.

"You've still got school." Jimmy tries to persuade her.

"I can go to school in Phoenix; make new friends. Make a new life." Marissa says, now beginning to cry. "You cannot leave me here. Not alone. Not with them." Marissa is now balling her eyes out and Jimmy holds her in a huge as he tries to console her.


	3. The Breakdown

**CHAPTER 3: THE BREAKDOWN**

QUICK RECAP:

Jimmy had come by the Nichol mansion to see Marissa. He had been away for a while after Hailey had left him. Marissa found out that her dad was intending to move to Phoenix to start afresh. She was not happy and wanted to move with him. She expressed her feelings about how angry she was that Ryan had left her like he did and that she wanted nothing more to do with him.

Back in Chino, Ryan had discovered that Theresa was going to have twins, but he was adamant that he was still in love with Marissa.

Caleb had been arrested at his offices in the presence of Julie, Kirsten and Sandy. He was later released as Sandy made an arrangement with the DA.

That evening, Caleb and Julie had come to meet with Kirsten to help prepare for their investment meeting on Monday morning. While they were busy in the kitchen, the doorbell rang again and it was Summer this time.

THE COHEN'S HOUSE CONTINUED.... (SATURDAY EVENING)

The doorbell rings again and this time Seth comes downstairs to answer it.

It's Summer.

"Cohen, ... in the poolhouse... now. We need to talk." She says and walks through the kitchen.

"Hi Mrs. Cohen... Mrs. Cooper... uhmm... Nichol... whatever." Summer says as she flies past them, with Seth hot on her heels.

"We'll just be outside," He says as he too rushes past them.

They enter the poolhouse – Summer first with Seth following close behind. Summer closes the door. She turns and looks straight in his eyes.

"Ok, Cohen, I need to know what's going on. Are we on or not, 'cause I don't know any more. I mean... I know it's been difficult; Ryan leaving and all – it would totally bum me out if my best friend left too. But... you and me Cohen..." Summer starts talking rapidly.

Seth puts his finger to her lips, gesturing for her to stop talking. When she finally stops rambling on, he takes both her hands in his and looks straight in to her eyes.

"Summer, you are amazing, and you know I'll always love you. For me, you have always been the one I want and nothing and no one – and yes that includes Ryan – can get in the way of that." Seth replies to her.

"Good," Summer answers, "'cause you know I'm hopeless with the whole sensitivity thing. I'm the pathetic part of sympathetic."

Summer smiles at Seth as he goes to sit down on the edge of the bed. He motions with his hand for her to come and sit beside him.

"Uh-uh, no. No sex." Summer says and stays standing.

"Ok, fair enough, but it's just a lot more comfortable on this bed." Seth replies, and makes a circular motion with his hand on the bed again.

"Right, but no moves or I'll rip off your independence," Summer replies and sits down next to him.

They talk for a little while about past few months and play-tickle each other until they are totally exhausted and both lie down on the bed together. There's an easy, serene silence for a while.

"When I was away I realized how much I was missing it here, and how important you are to me and... and, how much I love you, Summer." Seth continues.

They look in to each other's eyes and Summer realizes how much she had missed him too. She climbs on Seth as he lies on his back. They begin kissing and taking their clothes off. They have not made out for over seven months.

"Are we... I mean... gonna... I thought... No sex..." Seth says between kisses.

"Shut up, Cohen." Summer ends his babbles.

Seth turns Summer over and he is now on top. He looks at her and smiles with warm affection. Not everything in his life is terrible, he thinks to himself.

But, as he turned over a picture fell out his back pocket. Summer sees it and reaches her arm out to take it. It's a picture of Seth standing between Deborah and Tracey – the two girls he was with in Catalina. He had not mentioned anything that had happened, nor had he mentioned anything about these two girls. The picture was taken on the day he left to return to Newport. Seth has not seen the picture fall out his pocket or that Summer had seen it. She pushes him off her. He sits up, a bit confused.

"Wha – what now?" Seth says a bit dazed.

"Who is this?" Summer demands.

"Oh, that's just Deborah and Tracey – friends I made in Catalina." Seth replies nonchalantly.

"You ass!" Summer replies, getting off the bed and getting dressed again. "I was pining for you while you were gone and all that time you were with these skanks!"

"Summer, they're not skanks, alright – they are my friends. They helped me out while I was there... gave me a place to stay." Seth tries to calm Summer down, but he's just digging the hole even deeper.

"And I suppose they gave you more than a place to stay, hey!" Summer says irately.

"No, Summer it's not like that. They were just my friends. I even told them about you and how much I love you and..." Seth says now trying to make amends.

"Save it Cohen. I can't believe it. I actually cried tears for you, and all the while you were getting it off with these." She says and throws the picture at him. "We're through!"

And with that Summer leaves the poolhouse, slamming the door behind her. Seth is left sitting there on the edge of the bed. He falls back down on the bed thinking how it was possible that things could have got this bad.

"Ryan, I need you now, man." He thinks to himself. "I need you now."

IN CHINO

It's late Saturday afternoon, and with Theresa in hospital and obviously not going to work, Ryan had taken her car to work, with the intention of going to visit her after his shift is over. It's around 5:30pm and Ryan was just finishing up to go home.

"Hey, Ryan!" Matt calls from the other side of the factory. "There's a telephone call for you. You can take it in my office."

Ryan makes his way to the office and picks up the phone.

"Hello?" Ryan says

"Hi Ryan. It's Theresa's mom here. The doctor just called..." She says

"Is Theresa ok?" Ryan interjects

"Yes. He was just calling to say she is alright to come home. I thought since you have the car, and you have to pass the hospital on the way home, you could pick her up for me." Theresa's mom asks.

"Sure. Bye." Ryan accepts and puts the phone down.

He realizes that there is still a long haul ahead and now that Theresa is having twins, he's going to have to work extra hard to support her... and the babies. Suddenly he realizes something: School starts Monday! He knows it would not be a good idea to stay out of school and the Cohen's will not be too happy with the idea, but what other option is there.

"I cannot just leave Theresa... not now and not like this." He thinks to himself.

Matt enters the office to sign Ryan off and give him his pay-check for the week.

"Thanks for the hard work, man. We'll miss you around here. Hopefully see you next summer?" Matt says handing Ryan an envelope with his pay in it.

"Yeh, about that..." Ryan says. "I've been thinking... I'd like to say on a bit longer. I was hoping I could continue here on Monday."

"You sure? I mean you've got school and..." Matt asks, with a look of confusion.

"Yeh, I know I should go and all, but Theresa needs me... and so do these babies." Ryan responds.

"Suit yourself, man. Personally, I would take off, but it's your life. Anyway, I'll back you whatever you decide. You want a job – it's yours. Just think about what I've said." Matt says and leaves the office with Ryan standing there contemplating his next course of action.

Ryan has really valued Matt's input – he's been something of a big brother to him since his own brother is in lockup. The option that makes the most sense is not always the best, but right now what choice does he have? He cannot just leave Theresa... not now and not like this.

He decides before he leaves to fetch Theresa he should phone the Cohen's; let them know what he will be doing.

Ryan picks up the phone and dials the Cohen's home number.

BACK AT THE COHEN'S RESIDENCE

Kirsten and Julie are still discussing plans around the dining room table. Seth is still in the poolhouse pondering his life away and Sandy and Caleb are sitting in the lounge discussing the legal deals with the DA deal.

The phone rings and Sandy answers it.

"Hello?" Sandy says.

"Hi." Ryan says on the other end.

"Ryan! How are you doing? How's Theresa?" Sandy says excitedly and loud enough for Kirsten to hear and stop her planning with Julie.

"I'm doing fine. Theresa's fine... Actually she's having twins. We found out yesterday." Ryan replies.

"Twins huh?" Sandy says and glances over at Kirsten who is looking very poignant again.

"Hey. The reason I called was to let you know I've decided to stay here and not go back to school... at least for this semester.... See how things go...... With Theresa and her now having twins, I cannot stay out of work. I've landed a decent job in construction." Ryan says.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Sandy asks.

"No, but do you have a better idea?" Ryan replies.

"You can come back here. You and Theresa. We can make it work here. I'll speak to Kirsten. She'll..." Sandy says, but is cut off by Ryan

"I can't ask you to do that." Ryan replies.

"You didn't. I offered." Sandy insists.

"Look, I gotta go. I just hope you can understand." Ryan replies.

"I understand. I don't like it, but I understand. And I want you to know that whatever you do I'll always be here for you... and Kirsten too. Just call ok?" Sandy says.

Seth walks in from the poolhouse and hears Sandy talking to Ryan.

"Is that Ryan?" Seth enquires of Sandy. "When's he coming back? Tell him he should meet us here before school on Monday. We can go together." Seth sets excited again.

Sandy gestures to him it is Ryan and continues the conversation.

"Ok. Thanks. Tell me is Seth..." Ryan asks

"He's doing ok. Struggling, but getting through it. You wanna talk to him?" Sandy asks. "Here, I'll put him on."

Sandy hands the phone to Seth.

"Hey man. Whatz up?" Seth asks

"Cool." Ryan replies.

"Listen I was thinking. We need to get some Seth/Ryan time on the books. It's been a long summer. So I was thinking at school we should sign up for the same stuff so we can spend time together. I'm the president of the Comic Book club, so I can get you in that quite easily and the Sailing club... you know out plans to Sail to Catalina with the girls... we can do all that again and..." Seth speaks non stop!

"Sounds good man......" Ryan says hesitantly...

"But?" Seth prompts Ryan's next comment.

"But I'm not coming back." Ryan drops the bombshell.

"I know. You are staying in Chino. That's fine.... Well, not fine... It'll be a long commute, but you can come over in the afternoons and..." Seth continues not realizing what Ryan is trying to say.

"To school I mean. I'm not going back to school." Ryan says.

Seth is slient on the other end for a while as Ryan's comment sinks in.

"Oh, so... ok. Cool.... Not cool.... I get it. You have a new family, a new life and your friends in Newport are not important to you. You just move on, don't you?" Seth says getting angry and feeling a bit hurt.

"Seth, it's not like that it. I thought you'd have my back man." Ryan replies.

"You know, between you and Summer... why don't you just take my heart and cut it up and I don't know... feed to fish or something." Seth says hurting badly now and feeling very angry.

"Summer? What happened. You broke up? I'm sorry to hear that.... Look..." Ryan asks with real concern in his voice.

"Well, don't stress yourself about it. After all you have your own family to take care of now right... A baby seems way more important than me right now, right? Cheers Ryan, and good luck with life." Seth says and slams the phone down on the counter. He runs back up to his bed room.

"Seth!" Sandy shouts out. But he is distracted by a weeping Kirsten behind him.

"Oh, Sandy. Look at what this distance between us and Ryan has done! It's tearing this family apart. The holidays are over, just please bring our son back! Bring Ryan home!" Kirsten says through sobs as Sandy embraces her in a tight hug again.

Back in Chino, Ryan hangs up the phone and makes his way to the car to go and fetch Theresa. He is feeling very tearful and emotional. That is not the way it should be between him and Seth. They are brothers and they are supposed to have each other's backs. He is stuck in a very difficult place. He knows it's going to be extremely difficult for Seth now. Him and Summer are broken up and he's not there to help him through it. But at the same time he is drawn to his commitment to Theresa and the babies.


	4. The Relief

**CHAPTER 4: THE RELIEF**

RECAP:

Summer broke up with Seth after she found a picture of him with two girls he was with in Catalina.

Ryan has decided to stay on in Chino and not go back to school. He phoned the Cohen's to let them know and told Seth who was not very impressed with him.

EARLY SUNDAY MORNING, JIMMY'S YACHT

Marissa slept over on her dad's yacht. She was very upset about the news that her dad was going to be leaving. After their walk on the beach, they went to Jimmy's yacht to chat further about the summer. Neither of them mentioned anything more about moving and eventually Marissa fell asleep on the couch.

At around 9am Sunday morning Marissa is awoken by the smell of fried egg and bacon. She sits up on the couch and for a minute wondering where she is. She gets up following the inviting smell towards the kitchen.

"Morning Kiddo." Jimmy says as he sees Marissa entering the kitchen. He goes to give her a peck on the cheek.

"Hey." Marissa responds half a sleep.

"Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes; a banquet of eggs, bacon, pancakes and McMuffins." Jimmy announces.

"Great." Marissa says, not sounding all that great herself though. She pours herself a cup of coffee and sits down at the table in the corner of the kitchen.

"You sleep well?" Jimmy asks.

"As well as can be expected... on a couch." Marissa replies with a rye smile.

"Yeh... sorry about that. We don't have a spare room here." Jimmy says jokingly defending his yacht. He puts a delicious plate of eggs, muffins, bacon, toast and pancakes dripping in syrup in front of Marissa, and he sits down next to her himself.

They both wolf down their breakfasts making small talk in between.

"I've been thinking. If you don't want me to go, I can stay. I'll try and find a job here. My brother may have some contacts nearby and then we can still spend time together." Jimmy says.

Marissa looks up and smiles. "That would be great," She says, but then looks back down at her plate and plays her fork through the eggs. "But don't let me spoil your plans. I mean... if you need to leave..."

"I want to be here for you, Kiddo." Jimmy replies. "I know you are struggling... and I want to be here for you." Jimmy repeats himself. He's trying to be as supportive as possible, but he knows it's going to be very difficult for him too. He really doesn't want to stay. The memories of Hailey are too painful.

"I suppose. It's just.... This year is so messed up." Marissa responds.

"It's fine. I can sell the boat and get an apartment on the beach." Jimmy replies.

Marissa says nothing. She's happy her dad will be staying, but she just cannot keep her mind off of Ryan. He's the one she really wants back.

As they finish up, Jimmy says, "We should get you home before your mom flips out again."

"I guess." Marissa replies apathetically.

She gets up from the table to freshen up in the bathroom. Jimmy cleans up in the kitchen and half an hour later they leave for the Nichol Mansion.

IN CHINO

Theresa knocks on the door of the back room where Ryan has been staying for the past seven months.

"Ryan?" Theresa calls softly, "are you awake?" She gently opens the door to see.

Ryan's been awake for about half an hour already. He's lying on his back looking up at the roof. He had a good night sleep – something that was few and far between the past couple of months. He looks up as she opens the door.

"I need to get down to the drug store. I've run out of some medication. I was hoping you would come with me." Theresa asks. She looks like she hasn't slept in weeks.

"Yeh, sure." Ryan obliges, as he throws his legs over the side of the bed and sits up. "Just let me get washed up."

"I'll get breakfast ready." Theresa says and makes her way out room.

"No." Ryan jumps up and stops her. "I mean, I'll come do that. Just sit down and relax."

"I'm fine." Theresa reassures him. "I'm not paralyzed. Besides it's the least I can do for all the help you've been." And she leaves the room.

Half an hour later Ryan enters through the back door in to the kitchen. He finds a bowl of cereal on the counter with a glass of juice next to it.

"It's not much, but..." Theresa begins to explain.

"It's great." Ryan cuts her off as he sits down to eat and gives Theresa his standard half-smile. Theresa heads off to the bathroom to freshen up as Ryan finishes off his breakfast.

About five minutes later and half way through the cereal, Ryan heads a loud cry of anguish from the bathroom.

"AHHH! RYAN!!! AHHH!!!!!" Then a loud fall!

He hurries to the bathroom to find Theresa on the floor and clearly in pain. The bathroom floor is wet... and so is Theresa's dress.

"What! What's wrong?" Ryan says exasperated.

"Call the doctor; I think my water broke!" Theresa replies with pain written all over her face.

Ryan hurries to the phone in the lounge and rings the doctor's emergency number.

"Hello. Dr Lubbe." The doctor answers.

"Yeh, doc. Ryan Atwood here – Theresa's boyfriend... friend. I think she's in labor!" Ryan says intensely.

"Ok, can you bring her down to the hospital?" The doctor asks ever so calmly.

"No! Theresa's mom took the car to church!" Ryan replies.

"I'll send an ambulance. Hang tight. Just keep telling her to breath!" The doctor replies and puts the phone down.

"Tell her to breath," he thinks to himself. "That sounds easy enough."

Ryan hastens to the bathroom again and assists Theresa to the lounge. He sits her down on the couch.

"The ambulance is on the way." Ryan says to Theresa. He brings her a glass of water, which she gulps down.

Fifteen minutes later the ambulance arrives and loads Theresa in the back. Ryan gets in with her and holds her hand.

The ambulance speeds off towards the nearest hospital and Ryan looks back out the window to see the place he's called home for the past 7 months fade away in the distance.

"This is it!" He thinks to himself. Nervously he looks in Theresa's eyes and again half-smiles.

Almost as though she can read his mind, Theresa says, "This is it Ryan. Today we find out if you're a father!"

AT THE HOSPITAL IN CHINO

The ambulance pulls up at the emergency entrance to the hospital. Doctors and nurses are waiting around and hastily wheel Theresa in to the emergency ward on the stretcher-bed. Ryan is following close behind.

A nurse stops him as he's about to enter.

"Only family allowed. Who are you?" The nurse questions him.

"I may be the father." Ryan replies.

"May be? You don't know. Who else could it be?" The nurse says. At this stage Theresa is in the ward with a whole army of nurses and doctors around her giving her various kinds of instructions.

"This other guy she was engaged to at the time." Ryan replies a little bit irate now.

"Well, get him here." The nurse replies. "We'll have to conduct tests straight afterwards to see and he'll need to be here if you want to know who's they are."

Ryan looks past the nurse at Theresa who just nods at him. He turns and races down towards the entrance where he saw a payphone on the way in. He phones Eddie, and Theresa's mom.

In the mean time the nurses have plugged Theresa up to various machines that monitor the mother and the babies' vital signs, except the heart-monitoring machine that does not appear to be working. The nurses frantically tinker around with it, but to no avail.

"Get another one of these things in here, now!" The doctor barks out the order. "I cannot believe such vital equipment isn't working in this place!"

The contractions have become visibly shorter between each other and are lasting longer.

"This looks like it's going to be a quick one." The doctor says to Theresa. "Just keep breathing and you'll be fine."

"Is that good or bad?" Theresa asks.

"It doesn't mean anything." The doctor replies.

Ryan gets back a few minutes later and the nurse lets him in to the room where Theresa is. He stands next to her and holds her hand for support.

Theresa looks at him and says, "I just to say thanks... I wouldn't have got this far if it were not for you... ..." She pauses for a moment and then says, "I love you Ryan Atwood." Ryan just looks down at her and just gives his half-smile. He just cannot reciprocate her feels.

Just then she goes in to another contraction. She is in a lot of pain... more so than she expected. One of the nurses wheels in a mobile heart monitor and plugs Theresa in to it. The nurse flicks some switches and turns some buttons on the machine. She pauses, takes a step back and puts her hand up to her chin.

"Humm.... This can't be right." She says, and looks at the monitor tapping the screen.

Ryan looks across at her with concern. "What's wrong?" He asks. She just looks at him and across at Theresa and quickly leaves the room to call the doctor. Ryan walks around to the machine to take a look, but all those gauges and gadgets are a mystery to him.

Just then the doctors come rushing in with the nurse close behind. Ryan steps aside and the doctor takes a look at the machine.

"Are you sure this thing is working property?" He asks the nurse while turns a few buttons.

"Yes, I'm sure. We just used it half an hour ago with another patient." She says.

Ryan looks at Theresa who emulates his feeling of concern. He turns to the doctors and asks, "What's wrong with the machine?"

The doctor ignores him and barks out orders to the nurses. "Clear everyone out. Anesthetize this lady. We are going to have to do an emergency C-Section! I'm going to call Dr Lubbe."

With that the doctors leaves the room. Ryan chases after him and grabs his arm turning him around. "I WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN!" Ryan says to him frantically.

"We cannot find heartbeats for the babies, son." The doctors replies grimly and looks down at his arm, which Ryan is still grasping at. Ryan lets go and the doctor makes his way to the administrative center. He stands there dumbstruck for what seems like hours. Suddenly he regains his thoughts and turns around to go back in to the emergency room, but he is stopped by a nurse.

"I'm sorry; you cannot go in there anymore. They are going to operate." The nurse says.

Ryan presses his face to the glass of the door, and from inside Theresa can see the unease on his face. Just then she falls in to a deep sleep as one of the nurses puts a mask over her face.

STILL AT THE HOSPITAL

It's been two hours since they started operating on Theresa. Theresa's gynecologist had arrived and immediately begun the operation. During that time Theresa's mom had arrived. Eddie had also arrived, accompanied by a female friend.

Theresa's mom was still dressed in her Sunday best. She had just got in from church when the phone call came through about her daughter. She immediately rushed out to the hospital, praying all the way.

Eddie was not at home when Ryan called, but a young lady, who Ryan could only have guessed to perhaps be Eddie's girlfriend, answered the phone. Ryan gave her the news about Theresa, not sure if she had even known, but he didn't care much about that at this stage. If they are Eddie's, then it's about time he assumed some responsibility, Ryan thought.

When they all arrived, Ryan filled them in on the details.

They were now all waiting anxiously in the waiting area; Theresa's mom and Ryan on one side, two seats apart, and Eddie and his girlfriend, holding hands, on the opposite end; Eddie facing Ryan. All looked very somber. No one said a word. Only the occasional phone ringing at the nearby reception or the sound of the PA system paging a doctor broke the intense silence.

The wait was killing them. What was wrong with the babies? Why didn't they find a heartbeat for either of them? Was the machine just faulty? Whose babies were they?

Ryan and Eddie look up at each other, and then quickly look away.

Was Theresa going to be okay? She had not been well as a result of the stress and recent scares. Added to that, Ryan had overheard the two doctors mention to each other that Theresa's own heartbeat pattern was looking a little weaker than normal. However, they had no choice but to operate. This news Ryan he did not share with any of the others. No need to trouble them any more than they already were. Theresa was also six weeks premature. Ryan wasn't sure what that meant, but it didn't seem good to him.

The door suddenly opens and a doctor clad in a white over-garment enters the waiting area. All four quickly stand up and then slowly sit down again as they realize he is not Theresa's doctor. The doctor ignores them and makes his way to another set of visits – an oldish man and woman, probably in their mid 50's. Ryan cannot hear what he's saying to them, but he can see it's not good news, as they both hold each other tightly and begin weeping loudly.

Another hour passes. It seems like eternity. The tension can be cut with a knife.

Just then the door opens again and as before they all stand up quickly. This time it is Theresa's doctor. The gynecologist approaches them.

"I have got some good news and some not so good news." The doctor announces. "You may want to sit down for this."

All of them look intensely at each other. Ryan and Eddie lock eyes. All wondered what could have happened in the operating room. Was Theresa okay? Had she come through the operation alive? Had they been able to save the babies?

IN THE WAITING ROOM AT THE HOSPITAL

"Just please tell us doctor!! The wait has been killing us." Theresa's mom says under extreme anxiety. Ryan assists her to sit down.

The doctor sighs deeply and continues. "Your daughter suffered a lot of blood loss during the operation, and at one point we didn't think she would make it."

"Is she okay?" Eddie asks with concern.

"Her condition is stable. She's resting at the moment." The doctor replies.

"And the babies?" Ryan asks.

The doctor takes a deep breath as he lays on the bad news. "They had suffered an enormous amount of strain caused by the stress the mother was under, and as a result were too weak to survive through the natural birth process. This is why we had to do an emergency C-Section."

He pauses for a moment, and then continues. "Unfortunately one of the babies didn't make it. He were simply too weak by the time we started operating. The one fetus was just not strong enough and his heart gave in. The other baby had a heart beat, but it was very weak. We were able to save him, but the next 48 hours are going to be touch and go.

"This kind of thing is normally the result of high stress levels in the mother, especially so in young mothers. I am sorry." The doctor concludes. Theresa's mom begins crying uncontrollably now and Ryan tries to console her.

"Do you know who the father is, yet?" Eddie turns to the doctor and asks.

"Yes, but I think it best if she tells you herself." The doctor replies.

"When can we go in and see her?" Ryan asks.

"At the moment she needs to rest and I would not suggest disturbing her; perhaps in about an hour or so." The doctor replies and exits the room, leaving them sitting there in a state of emotional despair as they try to process the news they have just heard.

IN THE WAITING AREA OF THE HOSPITAL

About two hours had passed since the doctor had delivered the news. Lunch time was drawing near, but no one was all too interested in eating right now.

The four visitors had not said much to each other over the last little while. Theresa's mom had calmed down a bit and was sipping on a cup of coffee. Ryan and Eddie didn't say a word to each other. Eddie and his girlfriend sat is silence, but it was clear from her facial expressions that she was not at all happy with the current state of affairs. She looked bored and totally uninterested in what was going on.

"I cannot wait any longer!" Eddie says in frustration and anger. "I'm going in." He gets up and makes his way to the door, but Ryan jumps up in front of him.

"The doctor said she needs her rest!" Ryan says with an expression of determination.

"Get out of my way, man!" Eddie says as he locks eyes with Ryan.

"Why don't you sit down,... MAN!" Ryan replies with a sarcastic emphasis on, 'man'.

Just then the nurse walks in.

"Theresa is awake. BUT you can only see her one at a time." The nurse says. "And she has asked to see her mom first."

Theresa's mom gets up and follows the nurse out to Theresa's ward. The other three remain in the waiting room, not speaking to each other.

About twenty minutes later the nurse comes back in. "The rest of you can go in now, but please keep it brief. She needs her rest."

They all get up and follow the nurse to the ward. Ryan enters first, with Eddie and the girlfriend behind him.

Theresa is lying on the bed with tubes and pipes all over her body. She looks exhausted, but somewhat relieved that the ordeal is over. Theresa's mom is sitting on a chair next to the top of the bed. An Asian lady dressed in a blue and white uniform, is standing off to one side filling in some paper work. She does not look like a nurse.

Ryan walks to Theresa's side. "How are you?" He asks with concern.

"Great." She replies. "It feels like I've been hit by a bus." And she forces a half-smile.

Eddie stands off to one side. This is the first time in nearly eight months that he and Theresa have seen each other. Eddie disappeared after Theresa went back to Newport to seek advice from Sandy. He was afraid that she may press charges against him for hitting her. She didn't.

She looks back at Ryan and then at her mom, who gently holds her hand. The Asian lady now comes closer and stands alongside Theresa on the same side of the bed as her mom. Theresa looks back at Ryan.

"Your support has been immeasurable during this time, Ryan. I have no real way of thanking you." Theresa says, getting quite emotional.

She now turns to Eddie. "It pains me to say this, but..." Theresa pauses, as Eddie takes a step closer... "The baby is yours."

A deadly hush fills the room. Ryan breathes the biggest sign of relief ever as he feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. He takes a step back away from the bed.

Eddie comes over to Theresa's side, and smiling he says, "I know I haven't been around for you recently, but I promise we can make this work – you and me... and our son. I know you still love me Theresa; why else wouldn't you have pressed charges?"

"EDDIE!" The girlfriend says in disbelief.

Theresa ignores Eddie's comments and now turns to the doctor.

"This is Doctor Lin. She is from Planned Parenting." Theresa introduces her, and then continues. "I would like you to know something." Theresa looks at Eddie and then at Ryan. Finally she takes a deep breath and continues. "My mom and I have decided to give the baby up for adoption."

Ryan and Eddie both look a little shocked, and Eddie backs up a step. This is where the doctor steps in.

"We feel it would be in the baby's and Theresa's best interests." The doctor carries on from where Theresa left off.

"Theresa, NO!" Eddie yells. "This is as much my child as it is yours, and I will not let you just make this decision without me!"

"Actually, even though you're the father, Theresa was still a minor when she fell pregnant, which means that your permission as the father is not required." The doctor cuts in. "All we need is the consent of the mother's parents. In this case, that would be Theresa's mom."

"NO!" Eddie yells. "I won't let you do this. I want this kid!"

Ryan steps forward, grabs Eddie on the shoulder and says in a firm voice, "Hey, man. Maybe you should relax!"

Eddie turns around and hits Ryan square in the face! Ryan falls as a heap to the ground.

"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!!!" Eddie shouts angrily at Ryan and turns back around to speak to Theresa.

Ryan gets up and tackles Eddie from behind as medical equipment and instruments go flying all over the place.

"STOP IT!" Theresa's mom yells!

Ryan and Eddie exchange punches as they roll around on the floor.

Just then Hospital Security comes charging in after hearing the commotion. Both Ryan and Eddie are eventually detained and cuffed. The police arrive and, they are arrested and taken away.


	5. The Reality

**CHAPTER 5: THE REALITY**

AT THE NICHOL MANSION

It is lunch time at the Nichol mansion and both Julie and Caleb are not at home.

Marissa is lying on her bed looking at a picture of her and Ryan taken last summer. Oh, how she wishes things could just go back to the way they were. She longed for Ryan to be back by her side.

A smile crosses her face, as she thinks back on happier moments. She remembers how he was there for her when Luke cheater on her in Tijuana; and how he was so supportive of her after the overdose. She remembers him saving her from the hospital when her mom wanted to have her committed; how he didn't judge her when she was caught shoplifting; and how he even forgave her after the whole episode with Oliver. But, she remembers most fondly the moments they just spent starring in to each others' eyes.

Her moment of joy turns to sadness as she then remembers their final dance together at her mom and Caleb's wedding. He looked so handsome in his tuxedo, and his hair combed perfectly in place. It was a moment she'll never forget. It was a moment she never wanted to end. It was ... ... it was their last dance together. It was the day he left.

"Is it true?" Marissa thinks to herself. "Is what Seth said true' that she was the one who drove him away? Her eyes well up with tears. "If I had never met Oliver, would he have left? Would he have even slept with Theresa in the first place?"

She throws the picture to the floor and turns over and covers her head with the pillow as she begins to cry.

Ding-dong!

The door bell rings.

Marissa gets up and walks over to the mirror behind her bedroom door to see what she looks like. She tries to dry the remaining tears with a tissue she pulls out her pocket. She is wearing a pink top and a pair of navy-blue jeans. She's wearing her hair up in a bun, but lets it loose to try and hide the puffiness in her cheeks.

The door bell rings again.

Marissa makes her way down the stairs, still drying the tears, and trying to touch up her make-up.

She opens the door to find a young guy, probably about 17 years old wearing a pair of stone jeans and a navy blue T-shirt, similar to the one Ryan used to wear when he worked at the Crab Shack. He's got thick streaky blonde hair and dashing blue eyes. He's average height – not much taller than Ryan.

"Hi." The guy says, stretching out his hand. "My name's Mark. I'm your new neighbor. We just moved in this morning."

"Hi." Marissa replies and shakes his hand. "Marissa Cooper." She introduces herself.

They stand there in awkward silence for about a minute.

"Uhmm, can I help you?" Marissa prompts.

"Yeh,... oh man,... I'm so sorry." Mark responds uneasily. "I... we, well my mom actually, was hoping we could borrow some supplies. Most of our stuff is only arriving tomorrow."

"Oh... uhmm... sure. Please come in." Marissa replies and opens the door wider for him to come in.

"Wow! You've got a great place!" Mark comments as he walks inside.

"Thanks, but it's really not THAT great." Marissa replies and heads off towards the kitchen. "What is it that you needed?"

"Some milk and sugar." Mark replies as he watches Marissa from behind... more specifically – HER behind! She sees him watching her and blushes a bit.

"Where did you say you were from?" Marissa asks, trying to ease the moment.

"I didn't." Mark replies jokingly. "But we just moved here from Missouri. My dad got a transfer. And you? How long have you been here?"

"About seven or eight months." Marissa replies as she comes back with the supplies and hands it to him.

"Thanks." Mark says. Again they just stand there in an uneasy silence for a minute.

"Shouldn't you be getting that back to your mom?" Marissa breaks the silence.

"Oh... yes... right." Mark says and makes his way to the door. Marissa leads the way and opens the door for him. He leaves, but just before going he turns around...

"So, what you doing later?" Mark asks. He pauses, but not long enough for Marissa to say no. "I hoped we could perhaps go to the pier and you could be my tour-guide. I don't know this area at all."

Marissa looks a little shocked at the sudden request.

"Uhmm. I... I dunno." Marissa replies uneasily. "I kinda have a boyfriend."

"I wasn't asking for a date... just a tour." Mark replies.

"Well, in that case..." Marissa responds.

"Great. Can I come over at five?" Mark replies, a little too eagerly.

"Sure – see you – at five." Marissa says and closes the door as Mark walks away.

AT THE COHEN'S

Kirsten is sitting by herself in the poolhouse on the two-seater couch next to the bed, thinking back on better times. She is not holding up under the emotional strain of the events of the past summer, and added to that the uncertainty of the Newport Group's future, of which she is now CEO.

Sandy walks in and closes the door behind him.

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you look in the afternoons?" Sandy says as he sits down next to her and pulls her in to a kiss.

"Not recently." Kirsten replies and gives Sandy a knowing smile.

"Well, that's because you haven't been using any of that fancy make-up lately." Sandy says jokingly and pulls Kirsten to lie on his shoulder.

They just sit there for a while and enjoy the moment. Kirsten eventually lifts her head and sits up.

"I'm going to be late for my yogalaties class," she says and stands up. She turns around and asks Sandy, "Have you spoken to Seth today? He was quite upset about the phone call from Ryan last night and I don't think things are going too well with Summer either."

"No, he hasn't been out his room the whole morning," Sandy replies as he gets up.

"I think you should go talk to him, Sandy." Kirsten urges. "He's going to need your support – even if he won't ask for it."

"I'll chat to him." Sandy says. Him and Kirsten leave the poolhouse together, and enter the kitchen through the back door.

Just then the phone rings. Sandy answers it, as Kirsten starts putting the dishes in the washer.

"Hello." Sandy answers.

"Yes, this is Sandy Cohen." Sandy replies to the person on the other end.

There's a pause as the person on the other end talks, to which Sandy replies with a few, "yes's" and "okay's".

"Okay, I'm on my way." Sandy says and puts the phone down. He turns to Kirsten who's looking very inquisitive.

"That was the police station in Chino." Sandy says solemnly. "Ryan's there."

"I'm coming with you." Kirsten says.

"Okay, get the car." Sandy says, "I'll go check on Seth."

Kirsten rushes out the front door and Sandy heads upstairs to Seth's room.

Seth is lying on his bed stroking Captain Oats' head and listen to music through his earphones. He is wearing a red t-shirt and a pair of blue long pants and sneakers.

Sandy knocks on the door.

"It's open!" Seth says loudly and puts Captain Oats down on the table next to him.

Sandy enters as Seth removes the earphones. He gets up and grabs his skateboard.

"Going somewhere?" Sandy asks

"Yeh, see you later." Seth replies and makes a bee-line to the door.

"Your mom and I are going to fetch Ryan," Sandy says quickly. "He's at the police station."

Seth stops in his tracks. "Oh." He replies, seeming keen, but trying to contain his excitement.

"I thought you'd like to come." Sandy says rather surprised that Seth is not a little more excited.

Seth turns back around to face Sandy. "Actually, why don't you go on ahead of me? You know how those places give allergies." Seth says, making excuses.

"Seth!" Sandy exclaims out of disbelief that his son doesn't want to come with.

"Father." Seth says sarcastically.

"Ryan's your friend. You should be there." Sandy encourages.

"Be there hey?" Seth says again in a sarcastic tone and lifts his hand to his chin in a mock look of deep thought. "Oh, Right... You mean like the way he was there for me during the summer... Or when he was there when my girlfriend dumped me... Oh yes... yes... no, uhmm... interesting... seems that I don't recollect any of those moments... ... or could it have been... perhaps he WASN'T there ... Yip... Definitely recall now...." Seth says sarcastically, but clearly angry.

"This is not the time for sarcasm." Sandy says.

"I wasn't being sarcastic." Seth says and Sandy just looks at him with raised eyebrows. "Okay, maybe a little." Seth admits. "But you know what? I don't care. He can stay in Chino. I wasn't the one who ran out." Seth says angrily and turns to leave the room.

"Looks to me like Ryan's not the one running out, now." Sandy says as Seth heads down the hall. Sandy stands in Seth's room for a moment. He sighs, and then heads downstairs to the car where Kirsten is waiting.

"Seth's not coming I take it?" Kirsten says to Sandy as he climbs in to the driver's seat.

"He just needs some time." Sandy says and starts the car.

"Ryan may be coming back, but it's still going to be a long time before everything's back to normal again." Sandy says wisely, as Kirsten just gives him a look of concern. "Not that anything is ever normal around here." Sandy says as he pulls out the driveway. He can sense Kirsten is very apprehensive about what the future holds.

As they drive down the road, Sandy puts his right hand on her knee and says, "We'll be okay though. We always are." He looks at her reassuringly and she forces a smile.

DOWN AT THE PIER

Mark had met Marissa at her place and the two of them went in Marissa's car to the pier. She had shown him the Balboa Lighthouse that her dad and Sandy bought, but never got off the ground. They grabbed a quick bite to eat there before making their way along the walkway to the end of the pier.

"I used to love coming down here." Marissa says thinking back on the 'good old days'.

"Used to?" Mark enquires. "What happened?"

"Things just got a little messed up I suppose." Marissa says vaguely. This leads in to a slightly awkward silence.

"So, tell me about your boyfriend... Ryan is it?" Mark asks, trying to break the tension.

"Yeh. He lives in Chino." Marissa replies.

"Long distance relationship, huh?" Marks says. "What, does he come through over the weekends or something?"

"Actually, I haven't seen him in about seven months." Marissa says indifferently.

Mark looks quizzically at her. "And he's your boyfriend? Doesn't seem like a very good one." Mark comments.

Marissa just looks at him and then down at her feet as she ponders on his words.

"I'm... I'm so sorry." Mark says, realizing what he had just said. "It's not my place to..."

"It's okay." Marissa cuts in. "I suppose in the real sense of the word, he's not my boyfriend." She looks back down at the ground again and kicks a stone away.

"Look, if you don't want to talk about it..." Mark suggests.

"No, it fine. I should probably get it off my chest." Marissa says. "I did kind of mess things up with him."

"Well, if you ask me, I think he's the one who's lost out." Mark encourages Marissa and gives her a smile that brings one out of here.

"Oh!" Mark exclaims in jest. "You have a beautiful smile."

"We should get going..." Marissa breaks says. "It's the start of registration week tomorrow."

"Yeh, same here." Mark replies, and they head off towards the car.

Half an hour later they arrive back at Marissa's place. Mark walks her to the door.

"Well, thanks for this evening. You are a very good tour-guide." Mark compliments.

"You make it sound so formal. It doesn't have to end here you know." Marissa says and gestures him to come inside.

"Okay, but only if it's not going to be an inconvenience." Mark responds and they both enter the house.

Julie and Caleb are inside having supper.

"Mariss." Julie says and gets up and gives her daughter a kiss on the cheek, to which Marissa does not reciprocate.

"How was your day, honey?" Julie asks.

"Fine." Marissa replies rather unresponsively.

"Who's you're new friend?" Caleb asks, but doesn't get up from the table.

"Oh, this is Mark." Marissa replies. "They moved in next door."

"Please to meet you Mr Nichol... Mrs. Nichol." Mark says politely.

Mark and Marissa head off towards the kitchen as Marissa prepares them both some coffee and they sit down in the lounge and talk well in to the night.

AT THE POLICE STATION, CHINO

Sandy and Kirsten are waiting at the front desk of the Chino Police Department. Sandy fills in some paper work and signs, as Kirsten stands by watching another offender being booked in at the desk next to theirs.

"Right. Thank you Mr Cohen." The detective says. "Please wait here; I'll fetch your son."

Sandy and Kirsten sit down on the two chairs available for visitors.

"I'm glad they're letting us take him home." Kirsten turns to Sandy and says. "This is no place for him to spend the night." Kirsten looks around with disgust at the surroundings. "He's a good kid."

"We just need to hope that the hospital don't want to press charges." Sandy replies. "They still have 24 hours to fill out a case."

Ten minutes later the detective brings Ryan through still with cuffs on. Kirsten stands and rushes over and hugs him. This is the first time she or Sandy have seen him in seven months. "It's so good to have you back!" She says almost crying, but this time tears of joy.

The detective unlocks the cuffs and takes them off. Ryan rubs his wrists.

"Mr Atwood, you do know that you can still be charged, provided the hospital decides to press charges." The detective says. "The good news for you is that normally if a complainant has not filed a case by this time, they usually won't bother."

"Well if they do, you'll have your attorney by your side." Sandy says as he also now gives Ryan a man-like side-on hug. "Good to have you back, kid."

Ryan smiles at Kirsten and Sandy as the three of the walk arm-on-shoulder side-by-side out the police station.

"So how's Theresa? You a dad yet?" Sandy asks, "Because if you are the master of parenthood is right here." Sandy says in jest. Kirsten just gives him a sarcastic grin.

They all get in the car and drive back to Newport. Ryan fills them in on all the details about his time back in Chino, about Theresa and the baby that died, and how she has decided to give the other kid up for adoption. He tells them about the baby being Eddie's.

In turn, Kirsten fills Ryan in on all the happenings in Newport; about Seth going to Catalina, about Marissa and Summer and about the Newport Group's financial crisis. Ryan is shocked about how much has happened since he left, and that it could have all happened in such a short space of time too!

They arrive back at the house and are still talking about it around the kitchen counter, when Seth walks in.

"Seth!" Kirsten calls. "Guess who is back?"

Seth walks up the stairs to his room pretending like he doesn't hear them. He walks straight to his room, throws the skateboard down and flops down on his bed looking up at the ceiling.

Back in the kitchen, the atmosphere is tense as Sandy and Kirsten look at each other in concern over Seth's reaction. Ryan's feeling a little uncomfortable too.

"I'll go get him." Sandy says, a little enraged at Seth, and starts making his way toward the stairs.

"No, it's fine." Ryan stops him. "It's fine. I'll go chat to him." Ryan heads upstairs toward Seth's room.

He knocks on the door.

"I'm not hungry, mom!" Seth replies thinking it is Kirsten who's followed him up the stairs.

Ryan enters. "Hey." He says.

"Oh, it's you." Seth replies, but doesn't look at him.

"What's up?" Ryan asks.

"Nothing." Seth responds.

"How's things?" Ryan probes further

"Cool." Seth replies coldly.

"Great." Ryan says a little uneasy.

There's an awkward silence for a while.

"You mind..." Ryan asks as he gestures to sit on the corner of the bed.

Seth doesn't respond, but Ryan sits down anyway.

"So, I'm sorry I had to take off." Ryan says trying to break the ice.

"Uh-hu." Seth says.

"It wasn't an easy choice." Ryan says.

Seth just lies there for a moment and then looks up at Ryan. "Funny. ... You seemed to have made the decision rather easily." Seth says and then puts his head back down on the pillow.

"It wasn't as though..." Ryan tries to explain

"You know, Ryan – Don't." Seth says and sits up. "Maybe you made the right decision for yourself and Theresa, but it wasn't the right one for me. I'm sorry if that sounds a bit selfish, but did you even consider what effect your actions would have on me. And Marissa. What about her? She's been totally destroyed and you didn't even call her – not once." Seth lies back down again. "I just need time, okay man. It's not going to be able to just go back to the way it was."

Ryan sits there thinking about what Seth has said. There is a lot of truth in his words. He hadn't called. Not because he didn't want to but, because it was just too difficult, and he didn't want to make things any more uneasy. Ryan gets up to leave.

STILL AT THE COHEN'S HOUSE

Ryan heads downstairs to find Kirsten and Sandy sitting kissing at the kitchen counter.

"Oh, uhmm..." Ryan starts.

Sandy and Kirsten quickly break it off. "Uhmm... I'm just gonna go make sure there's clean sheets and towels in the poolhouse." Kirsten says uneasily and gets up.

"Yeh, I've got to go check on... ... the thing..." Sandy says also uneasily.

"Right." Ryan responds with a smirk on his face. "Can I borrow the car... there's someone I need to go see." Ryan decides this is actually the perfect time to push his luck.

"Don't you want to stay for supper?" Sandy asks.

"No, it seems like you guys have your hands full. I can grab something to eat when I get back." Ryan says smugly. Sandy steps forward and playfully flat-hands Ryan's on the back of the head.

"Ok, then, by all means." Sandy says and hands him the keys. "And take this too... in case." He hands Ryan his mobile phone.

"Thanks." He takes the keys and puts the phone in his pocket.

Ryan gets in the car and heads down to the Nichol mansion. On the way he thinks a lot about what Seth said. Marissa may not be all too receptive of him. After all, he had been away for seven months and didn't call.

As he pulls in to the driveway he spots Marissa's car as well as another vehicle he doesn't recognize. He parks his car behind the newish-looking slick black sedan and walks up to the door, and rings the bell. "Hope Julie doesn't answer." He thinks to himself. A few minutes later the door opens.

"Oh my god, Ryan!" Marissa says ecstatically and practically falls in to his arms. He was not quite prepared for THIS reception, but it'll work, he thinks to himself and a little grin appears across his face.

"Hi." He says ever so coolly.

(Mark is still there. They had just got back from their outing to the pier and were sipping on coffee when Ryan rocked up.)

Marissa gestures Ryan to come in and as he does, he sees Mark sitting on the couch in the lounge sipping on coffee. For a brief moment it seems Marissa forgot Mark even existed. Mark puts his cup down on a side table and stands next to, but slightly behind Marissa.

"Oh, Ryan. This is Mark." She introduces them. "He moved in next door." They shake hands, but Ryan feels a little threatened. Firstly, he hadn't been around for seven months, so he couldn't have expected Marissa to just wait for him, but this Mark guy has just happily moved in on his territory.

"Still dating the guy next door." Ryan says sort of in jest, but then realizes what he just said. Marissa looks a little less than impressed. "I didn't..."

"No, worries." Marissa cuts him off, but definitely looking not so impressed.

"So, how are things going? You here for good or just until the next girl arrives that you can get pregnant?" Marissa asks very spitefully.

"Uhmm... maybe I should go." Mark says as he senses the tension in the air. He gets up and walks towards the door. "I can see you guys have a lot to chat about."

"No, Mark. Stay!" He quickly sits down as Marissa barks her order. "You were here first." She says and looks at Ryan.

"Actually, I think I was." Ryan says as he leans in towards Marissa trying not to make a scene. He was obviously referring to the bigger picture, but Marissa was not seeing it.

"Well, you walked out didn't you. Did you expect me to just hang around and wait for you? You didn't even call. I forgot what you looked like AND what you sounded like." Marissa says, now getting angry.

"I suppose I'll just leave then." Ryan says. "I just wanted to say hi."

"Well, Hi..." Marissa says. "And bye." She walks to the door and opens it.

"I guess I'll just see you at school then." Ryan says annoyed and a bit embarrassed, as he walks out the door.

"Maybe, maybe not." Marissa says and closes the door on him.

Ryan stands there for a few moments and wonders what just happened. Marissa seemed so happy to see him and within minutes her attitude took a complete about-turn. Ryan breathes a deep sigh and walks towards his car. He looks at the new vehicle, which he assumes is Mark's. How appropriate that he had parked behind it. Ryan gets in his car and drives off back towards the Cohen's.

On the other side of the door, Marissa is still holding the handle, but she's now broken down in tears.

Mark comes alongside her. "You want some alone time?" Mark asks.

Marissa looks up at him and dries her tears with her hand. "No, that's the last thing I need." Marissa replies.

Mark pulls her in to a hug and the two of them stand there for a while just holding each other.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE COHEN'S

Kirsten is sorting out the poolhouse for Ryan. She is so much happier now that they have got their son back and it seems like things can actually go back to the way they were.

Sandy enters the poolhouse and gives Kirsten an adoring kiss on the cheek. "So, where were we?" He says and gives her another kiss, and then another.

"Sandy..." Kirsten tries to stop him. "I need to get this room sorted out."

"You are passing me up for laundry?" Sandy says in mock pain.

Kirsten looks in his eyes and then gives in to him as she drops the sheets. They both fall back on the bed and begin to make out.

Just then the door bell rings. Seth comes down the stairs mumbling something about what's the point in having a housekeeper if she's never there at the most important times like opening doors.

Seth opens the door to find Jimmy standing there.

"Hey Seth. Is your mom around?" Jimmy asks.

"Haven't seen her. You can come in and check... perhaps the poolhouse. They're spending a lot of time there lately." Seth says and opens the door wider so Jimmy can come in.

He walks through the kitchen and out to the poolhouse. He opens the door and...

"Oh... I'm so sorry... I should've knocked." Jimmy says as he sees them on the bed.

"No, it's okay. Happening a lot lately." Sandy says and he and Kirsten quickly get up and smooth down their clothes.

"I can come back later." Jimmy says and sort of points out the door.

"No, nonsense." Kirsten says. "How you Jimmy?"

"I'm not too great. I need to chat to you ... Kirsten." Jimmy says. "You mind, Sandy?"

"No, not at all. Go ahead." Sandy says supportively, but a little annoyed at the same time.

"Well, let's go inside. Have you had supper yet? We were just about to eat." Kirsten leads the way. "Sandy, can you organize with Rosa to sort out the bed. Gonna need clean sheets again." She says to him and winks. Sandy stands there slightly annoyed, but quickly gets over it.

Sandy heads upstairs to Seth's room to announce that supper will be ready in a few minutes. This time he finds the door open, so he just walks right in. Seth is sitting at his computer searching the net.

"Supper's gonna be ready in a little while." Sandy announces.

"Not hungry." Seth says.

"You can't spend your whole life up here." Sandy says

"I can." Seth replies, and swivels around in his chair.

"I have a bathroom for all my manly needs..." He points towards the bathroom, "the internet for e-learning so I don't have to go to school... E-BAY for all those important supplies..." he points at his computer, "and a telephone for delivery." He picks up his cell phone that's lying next to the computer. "I am a victim of technology. America-On-Line has made it possible for social misfits such as myself to never have to face the real world again."

"Seth!" Sandy says firmly now. "You need to swallow your pride, forgive Ryan and get on with life. If you think life is difficult now... it doesn't get much easier, and you are going to need your friends... and Ryan is your friend...." Sandy says. He now gets a bit more fatherly, and puts his hand on Seth's shoulder. "And this thing you have now with Summer... you'll work it out. Love has to be worked at. There is no quick-fix to a broken heart.... Now, please, come down to supper." And with that Sandy leaves the room. Seth sits back in his chair and ponders on what Sandy has just said.

Back in the living room, Kirsten and Jimmy are finishing off their conversation.

"I'll see what I can do for you, Jimmy." Kirsten says as Jimmy gets up to leave. "The Newport Group, as you know, is struggling at the moment, but I'll check with Sandy too... I'm sure he can make a plan."

"Thanks. You guys have been so good to me. One day I'll make it up to you... I promise." Jimmy says.

"No need. What are friends for?" Kirsten replies, and smiles politely at Jimmy. "Are you not going to stay for supper?"

"No, I have a potential buyer for the yacht coming around tonight." Jimmy replies.

"I'll give you a call tomorrow evening." Kirsten says and leads Jimmy to the door.

"Yes. And thanks again." Jimmy says as he leaves.

"Don't mention it." Kirsten says as she closes the door behind him.

Just then Sandy comes back down the stairs. "Coop not staying for supper? Did you tell him you were cooking?" Sandy in jest.

"Very funny. No, he's got other plans." Kirsten says and fills Sandy in on their conversation.

Half an hour later Sandy, Kirsten and Seth are sitting down to a delicious meal of roast lamb and hot vegetable bake. Ryan arrives back and Kirsten quickly scurries to prepare a placemat and a plate of food for him. He takes his place next to Seth. The four of them sit down to a meal as family for the first time in seven months. Kirsten is very happy, and Ryan, for the first time in a long while feels right at home.

"How's Marissa?" Sandy asks.

"As complicated as ever." Ryan replies between bits of food.

"Yip... Welcome back to Newport buddy, where everything only APPEARS normal." Seth replies. "I think after supper, you and me... we need to catch up on a little Seth/Ryan time."

Ryan smiles broadly. "Sounds good, man."

"Ryan, are you gonna need a lift to work tomorrow?" Kirsten asks.

"I think I'll call Matt in the morning..." Ryan replies. "Tell him I need to register for school, and ask him for some vacation." Ryan says with half-smiling.

Half an hour later they finish supper and Ryan and Seth head out to the poolhouse.

"So Summer broke up with you?" Ryan asks as he sits on the bed and Seth on the couch.

"Now why would you just assume Summer broke up with ME?" Seth asks.

Ryan just gives him his look that conveys everything.

"Ok, point taken." Seth says in response. He tells Ryan everything that happened.

They talk well in to the night about their experiences during the summer. Ryan fills Seth in on all the details about Chino, his job, the babies and Theresa giving the baby up for adoption.


	6. The Registration

**CHAPTER 6: THE REGISTRATION**

Monday morning and Ryan is sitting at the kitchen counter munching on some dry cereal. He is dressed in a pair of light brown jeans, a white wife-beater and a black unbuttoned shirt over. He is sporting his wrist band as usual and black Bronx-like shoes.

Seth comes in, pours himself some corn flakes and throws a bit of milk over it. He takes up a seat next to Ryan at the kitchen counter. He is wearing a green t-shirt with charcoal corduroy pants and blue and white sneakers. Seth picks up the newspaper on the counter and turns straight to the comic section.

Kirsten comes in to the kitchen.

"Morning boys." She greets and pours herself a cup of coffee.

Both Seth and Ryan reply "Morning" jointly.

Sandy walks in, greets everyone and walks straight to the refrigerator and pours himself some juice. He drinks some of the juice and puts the glass down on the counter. Kirsten is standing staring out the window. Sandy, sensing she is a little tense, comes up behind her, places his hands on her shoulders and asks, "You ready for your big meeting today, honey?"

Kirsten turns around holding her cup in both hands and replies, "About as ready as I can be."

"You'll do great." Sandy encourages her. "I have complete confidence in your negotiating skills.

"And so do I." Caleb says as he and Julie walk in.

The front door is open.

"Kiki, morning." Caleb says as he enters the kitchen and gives Kirsten a kiss on the cheek. "Ready to make me a rich man?"

"Ah Cal." Sandy says, "Never miss an opportunity to focus all the attention on yourself."

Caleb just gives him a look.

"Kirsten, I thought we could go in together, since we are going to be running this meeting." Julie says.

"Well, I'll take the guys to school." Sandy offers. "We better get going." Sandy says and turns to the guys. "Ready?"

They get up and leave for school. Shortly afterwards Kirsten and Julie leave together.

AT HARBOR SCHOOL, REGISTRATION WEEK

Ryan and Seth walk up the stairs to the administration offices. Seth pulls a bulletin from his pocket and points Ryan in the direction he must go to his academic advisor's office.

"Meeting you at the cafeteria later." Seth says.

They part ways, Seth heads right and Ryan takes a left. They go off to their respective academic advisors.

As Ryan's walking down the open passage to the office, he spots Marissa walking up the stairs in his direction, except she doesn't see him until she just about bumps in to him.

"Hey." Ryan says.

"Oh.... Hey." Marissa says.

"How are..." Ryan starts asking

"Good." Marissa replies quickly.

"Good." Ryan says awkwardly.

Just then Mark shows up.

"Hey guys." He greets them.

"Hey Mark." Marissa says a little too excitedly. "I didn't know you were going to be coming to Harbor."

"Yeh, me neither. My parents arranged the whole thing. I'm just a guinea pig." Mark says. He turns to Ryan and asks, "So, how you man?"

"Good." Ryan replies.

"Good." Mark says. Things get a little awkward again.

"I'm a little lost here. This place is so big." Mark says.

"Never mind. I'll show you around." Marissa offers and smiles nastily at Ryan.

"Thanks." Mark replies. "Ryan you gonna hang with us?"

"uh... no. I got to get to go see my advisor." Ryan replies and gives Marissa a look back.

"Ok, man. Check you later?" Mark says and holds out his fist in a friendly gesture.

"Sure." Ryan replies and hits his fist on top of Mark's, but not at all in a usual friendly manner.

NEWPORT GROUP OFFICES, RECEPTION AREA OUTSIDE THE BOARDROOM

The reception area has been dollied up with elegant trimmings, a few snacks on tables and some of America's finest wines. All of this thanks to Julie Nichol.

A few of the investors have arrived and are mingling with other board members as they wait for the meeting to start.

"Kiki, I'm so excited!" Julie says very elatedly. "This is my first board meeting!"

Kirsten is not sharing in her eagerness. She knows a lot is riding on this meeting and any hick-up can mean the end of the Newport Group. Her presentation has got to be professional and without inaccuracies.

"Oh, god!" Julie exclaims as she turns and sees her reflection in the tinted glass door of the boardroom. "My eyeliner is smudge." She turns to Kirsten.

"Kiki, is my eyeliner smudged?" Julie asks.

"Oh, Julie..." Kirsten says exasperated and looks closely. "No, no, it's not. It's great."

"It's not great." Julie says. "I'm going to go fix it."

"But Julie, we're about to start!" Kirsten exclaims.

"Don't worry... I'll only be a minute." And with that Julie heads off towards the bathrooms.

Five minutes later, the clock ticks over to 9 o'clock. The investors start getting a little agitated. Kirsten picks up on this and addresses them.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Kirsten gets everyone's attention. "Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning. We will begin momentarily. We are just waiting for one more guest."

That guest is the main investor, upon whom the future of the Newport Group rests. He is clearly late.

A she finishes, the elevator doors open. In walks Mr Arthur Rutherford, of Rutherford and Forbes Construction Group.

"And not a moment too soon." Kirsten thinks thankfully to herself.

"Everyone!" Kirsten raises her voice slightly to get the visitors' attention one more time. "Can we make our way in to the boardroom... we are ready to begin." Kirsten ushers the investors and board members in.

Julie has still not come back yet, but Kirsten cannot wait any longer. They all enter the board room and take their seats. The lights are dimmed and Kirsten begins a very impressive slide-show presentation.

HARBOR SCHOOL, HALLWAY

Seth heads off towards his locker. He opens it, puts a few books and things inside. As he closes it he sees Summer walking in his direction.

"Hey Summer." Seth greets and kind of half-waves at her.

Summer is dressed in a very sexy pink number and a short, white mini-skirt.

Summer pretends not to see Seth and walks over to her locker which happens to be next to Seth's. She opens it and also fiddles inside with some books and other belongings.

Seth fidgets around for a while and then eventually decides to say something. "So, got any plans for after school?" Seth asks tentatively.

"Yeh, and they do not involve you!" Summer says and gives him a haughty / mocking look that could make hell freeze over.

"Okay, Summer, this angstiness between us... it's a little over-the-top. Can we just clear the air about what happened in the pool house the other day?" Seth says, now plucking up the courage to face up to Summer, but she cuts him off.

"I have nothing to say to you." Summer replies and slams her locker shut. She turns and heads off in the other direction.

Seth quickly, but gently grasps her by the arm and she turns around.

"Cohen!" Summer yells and yanks her arm out of his grasp. "That is like... physical abuse. People have been arrested for that!" Summer says loudly enough for people around to here.

"Well, you may have to do that, because that's the only way you will get rid of me." Seth says unwaveringly.

Just then some jocks come walking past. With them are few of the guys that Luke used to hang out with.

"Is this geek bugging you, Summer?" One of the water polo team guys comes up behind Summer and looks directly at Seth.

"No, I was just leaving." Summer replies, looks at Seth, and walks off.

The water polo guys also walk off, but look back at Seth who looks utterly downhearted. He stands there for a moment and then heads out towards the cafeteria.

HARBOR SCHOOL, ADVISOR'S OFFICE

Ryan sits down in a comfortable chair in his advisor's office, a Ms Debbie Julian. Ms Julian walks in and takes her place on the other side of the desk.

She is tall, slim, with dazzling green eyes and long blonde hair, which she has let down. She is wearing a mini skirt, high sling-back heals and a blouse that brings out the best in her assets. She has golden-brown complexion, clearly someone who spends most of their free time soaking up the rays. She is wearing silver-framed glasses, which she removes as she looks at Ryan, and then puts them back on as she looks at his paper work. Ryan is staggered by her beauty.

"Mr. Ryan Atwood." Ms Julian says sternly. "My name's Debbie Julian. You can address me as Ma'am or Ms Julian only. Not Mrs. Julian and never call me just 'miss'. I hate that."

Ryan shuffles in his seat uneasily.

"Can I call you Ryan?" Ms Julian asks.

"Sure... I mean, yes Ma'am. Ryan's good." Ryan says. Ms Julian just looks at him. She hands him an A5 size page.

"These are your subjects for this semester. I have based them on how well you did last year and made a few adjustments, as you will see." Ms Julian says.

She hands him another two pages, this time they're A4 size and printed on both sides.

"This is a vocational survey. As the name suggests, it assists us, and you, in determining what your interests are and thus enables us to best advise you on a college career. In addition to this I'd like you to write me a three page essay about your hobbies and likes and dislikes. The completed survey and essay I'd like by Wednesday." Ms Julian says. "You have shown a lot of promise in the last year, Ryan, more so than most students who have been here their entire school careers. It is my job to make sure you do something good with yourself and turn that promise in to purpose." Ms Julian continues. "I take my job very seriously. You will however find that I am very reasonable. Help yourself, and I'll give you all the assistance you need."

She puts her glasses back on and begins writing on a desk pad.

Ryan just sits there, speechless.

Ms Julian stops writing and looks up at him. "That'll be all."

Ryan gets up and leaves the office.

He walks over to the cafeteria where he finds Seth sitting alone by a table that overlooks the valley. He grabs some lunch and takes up a seat opposite Seth. They exchange subject schedules and read through what each other has.

"Ah, man. You got Spanish. How'd you get Spanish? And with Mr Tallis... Didn't you negotiate?" Seth asks.

"I didn't get a chance. MS Julian did all the talking; couldn't get a word in edgeways." He says emphasizing the Ms. They hand schedules back to each other.

Just then Marissa and Mark enter the cafeteria together.

Seth sees them together and asks no one in particular, but since Ryan's the only other person there...

"Who's that?" Seth asks

Ryan looks over and sees what Seth sees. "His name's Mark; moved here the other day. He lives next door to Marissa."

"The new boyfriend?" Seth asks

"I dunno." Ryan responds.

Mark and Marissa sit down at an empty table about three tables over from Seth and Ryan's. They apparently do not see Ryan and Seth.

Just then Summer enters and sees both Ryan and Seth, and Mark and Marissa. She decides to go sit with Mark and Marissa, ignoring Seth.

"Looks like we're alone again, Ryan." Seth says.

"At least we've got each other, right?" Ryan says trying to encourage himself as much as Seth.

"You know buddy, on the optimistic side, think about all the stuff we can now do as bachelors!" Seth says. "Two young stallions such as ourselves... available and free. I can now finish off my comic book novel and you... you can... uhmm."

Ryan looks at him with one raised eyebrow. Seth sips timidly on his soft drink.

"Yip, this is going to be a great year." Seth says sarcastically.

AT THE NEWPORT GROUP OFFICES, BOARD ROOM

The presentation is going well, and it seems like Kirsten has seized the attention of the investors. A delegate of about fifteen high-powered men and women grace the board room's oval table. Each has received a portfolio file containing various financial statements and ideals of the Newport Group.

After the slideshow has completed, Kirsten stands up and begins her speech.

"The Newport Group has for a number of years been the leader in both residential and commercial development in Orange County." Kirsten continues her sales pitch.

She showed graphs of how the company's financial growth has increased by almost 300 in less than 5 years.

"To quote from the Financial Times Magazine: 'The Newport Group is one of the most successful estate companies in Orange County. They can expect a very bright future.'" Kirsten reads from an article.

"Part of what we value is not only looking after our clientele, but also our employees, which is what makes this company so admired by those looking for employment. Our remuneration packages are of high value, as we believe content employees mean a successful business." Kirsten continues.

Just then Julie enters and takes a seat at the top of the table next to where Kirsten would be sitting. She tries to be as discreet as possible, but the guests notice.

"Sorry I'm late everyone... had a bit of an urgent situation to take care of." Julie says as she sits down.

Before anyone can ask the most obvious of questions, Kirsten obliges. "This is Julie Cooper Nichol. She has just been appointed as second in charge here at Newport Group."

Julie half stands, takes a quick bow and sits down again. Kirsten quickly attempts to continue, but Mr Arthur Rutherford challenges her.

"Nichol, you say?" Arthur Rutherford asks. "Not perhaps related to Caleb Nichol at all?"

"Actually, yes. He's my husband." Julie replies, rather cheerfully, but this cheer will be short-lived.

"Then, Mrs. Nichol, I for one and I'm sure many of the other investors here would like to hear from you how your husband managed to take this very successful business we've been hearing about and almost run it straight to the ground." Arthur Rutherford asks, and other investors nod their heads.

Julie looks very uncomfortable and Kirsten tries to refocus the meeting. "I'm not sure how relevant that is to our meeting today. Besides, Julie has not been in the business to long, so..."

"Oh come on. You are married to the most influential man in Newport Beach, you are number two here, and you expect me and these other fine gentlemen and ladies to believe you have no idea what is going on in this corporation?" Arthur Rutherford continues to harass Julie.

Julie stands up despite Kirsten's prompting her to remain seated and attempts to explain her way out of a very tight and difficult situation. She spends five minutes trying to look like she knows what she is talking about, but everyone in the room, including Kirsten and even Julie herself know she has no idea what she is saying. The investors are getting very restless and agitated, and Kirsten picks up on this, which in turn makes her feel very uneasy. The meeting has taken a turn for the worst.

Arthur Rutherford takes his seat again as he begins to enjoy this circus that he has begun.

Kirsten jumps in to try and selvedge the meeting. "My father has only ever had the best interests of this company and its staff at heart." Kirsten starts to explain, "Sure he's made a few bad investments, but that is the nature of the industry as you all will be able to testify to. The Newport Group is more than just Caleb Nichol, it is about productivity and delivery of services, and of course customer satisfaction. You can see from the testimonials in the folders in front of you that more than three fourths of our clients are satisfied with the work done by us on their behalf."

Kirsten finishes, as Mr Arthur Rutherford stands up. He buttons up his jacket, and while gathering his papers together he says, "Well, this has certainly been most entertaining, however this company or any other business associated with Caleb Nichol will not see one cent of my money."

He heads towards the door and the other investors follow suit. Kirsten tries to stop them and get them to reconsider, but they are not interested. "What kind of a fool do you two take me for?" One of the investors say as they all exit the board room and the Newport offices.

Kirsten sits back down in her chair looking totally defeated. Julie flops down next to her.

"That was a supreme cataclysm." Julie says. "I don't know what I'm going to do now!"

"Well, I guess it's time we get our résumé sorted out, Julie. We are going to have to apply for new jobs... and it looks like my dad is on his way to jail for a very long time." Kirsten says very gloomily as she realizes the gig is up.

MONDAY EVENING AT THE COHEN'S

Sandy and Kirsten are lying on their bed pondering on the events of the day. They still need to eat supper, but Kirsten just does not feel like staying in.

"How about we go out to eat? The Lighthouse has reopened under another name. We can take Seth and Ryan... we haven't eaten out as a family for months." Sandy suggests. Kirsten likes the idea and arises from the bed to quickly freshen up. Sandy goes downstairs to inform the guys.

Ryan and Seth are in the TV room playing PS2 games.

"Oh, oh... OH!" Seth explains in triumph. He turns to Ryan. "Buddy I just beat you in record-breaking time. That was like an Olympic record! Looks like someone hasn't had any practice over the holidays!"

Ryan looks sideways at Seth and gives him an affable punch on the arm, but hard enough for him to feel it and have to rub vigorously.

An hour later Sandy, Kirsten, Seth and Ryan head down towards the Lighthouse. They walk along the walk way, Sandy and Kirsten a few steps in front of Seth and Ryan who are taking up the rear.

As they're all about to enter, Ryan spots Summer, her dad, and another guy he recognizes, Kyle, sitting at one of the window tables. Kyle is one of the guys from the water polo team. Summer and Kyle are sitting next to each other opposite Mr. Roberts, Summer's dad. They seem to all be having a good time and even Summer's dad looks like he's enjoying himself. Kyle and him are getting on really well.

Ryan quickly rushes in front of Sandy and Kirsten, but also stands at an angle so as to block Seth's view. Quickly he improvises: "Uhmm... let's not eat here." Ryan says.

"Why?" Sandy asks a little puzzled.

"Uhmm... it's just..." Ryan's struggling to find a good excuse at short notice. "It's just that it brings back too many memories..."

Sandy and Kirsten look at each other a little bemused. "What memories?" Kirsten enquires.

"Yeh, buddy, what memories?" Seth says and steps closer, almost in eye shot of Summer's table. "You're sounding a little gay."

Ryan moves a little to the side to block Seth again.

"Uhmm, you know... with your father and Julie... their proposal... The same night Luke got in that accident." He says as he looks at Kirsten. "And you not getting the liquor license... not able to open." He says as he then turns to Sandy. "And it just makes me feel so sad... and angry when you I think about it all... what could have been had you got the restaurant and how Julie and Luke..."

"What about Julie and Luke?" Kirsten asks and Ryan realizes they didn't know.

"Uhmm, yeh Ryan. What about Luke and Julie?" Seth says pretending to have no idea what he's say, but also giving him a shrewd look that also says 'you really don't want to be going there'.

"No, nothing... you know just the whole thing with Luke leaving the same night Julie and Caleb got engaged...... too much emotion." Ryan says feeling like he's really sinking now.

"Ok, but you and Seth are spending way too much time. We can go some place else." Sandy says and takes Kirsten's hand.

They turn around and Ryan releases a huge sigh. However, Summer spots them leaving. More importantly, she sees Seth, but he has his back towards her. She quickly turns her head the other way, and covers her face with her hand, hoping they don't turn back and see her. They don't.

"But I think there's more to the Julie/Luke story than that." Kirsten says and looks at Ryan. "I want to hear about it later."

"Okay." Ryan agrees just happy they've avoided one train-smash so far.

As they head back to the car to find another restaurant, Seth turns to Ryan. "Okay Ryan, what's up? That whole show was really a little bit minty. I've got to teach you to lie better."

"Tell you later?" Ryan asks and squints his eyes a little.

"Sure." Seth replies as they get in the car.


	7. The Party

17

**CHAPTER 7: THE PARTY**

TUESDAY MORNING, IN MARISSA'S BEDROOM

Summer and Marissa had decided to spend the day together... shopping. Marissa was in her room getting ready, doing her hair and fixing up her make-up.

"Coop!" Summer shouts from the hallway. "You, up here?"

"I'm in my room." Marissa replies.

Summer enters Marissa's room. "Eewww, Coop! I don't know how you've managed to live here for so long. This place is creepy, I couldn't do it."

"Yeh, well. I might not have to for much longer if Caleb goes to jail. My mom will have to find another place to stay and I can go move back with my dad." Marissa replies.

"Thought your dad was leaving?" Summer asks.

"No, he's decided to stay. He sold the boathouse the other night and is going to use the money to get a small apartment and use the rest to possibly start his own company again." Marissa replies.

Summer sits down on the chair in Marissa's room. She is wearing a very sexy pair of short, white jeans and a red top.

"So, spill it about Mark? He lives next door?" Summer asks.

"Yeh, he moved here last week. His dad got a job transfer and they moved in to the house next door. He's also going to be coming to Harbor..." Marissa starts answer.

"Ok, whatever. Just get to the juicy bits." Summer interrupts rudely.

"There are no juicy bits. We're just friends." Marissa replies.

"Oh, come on, Coop. Your style is to date the new guy first and become friends later... when did that change?" Summer says.

"We're just friends." Marissa reiterates. "He's a nice guy and all, but we'll see what happens. At this point, we are JUST FRIENDS."

"Ok, whatever." Summer says. "But if you want my advice, I'd date him. He nice, charming, not full of himself and easily accessible, I bet he's got great abs and is probably well endowed in the nether regions...."

"Summer!" Marissa exclaims while laughing and continues to do her hair in front of the mirror.

"You and Chino... over?" Summer continues her persistent line of questioning.

"I guess. He just comes back and expects everything to be normal... not happening." Marissa replies.

"What about you and Seth?" Marissa attempts to get all the attention off herself.

"Totally over." Summer says. "That a$$ was seeing other women while I spent the whole summer thinking and worrying about him. Besides, Kyle is much nicer... not all geeky and nerdy like what's his face..."

"Kyle? You're dating a water-polo guy?" Marissa says.

"Not dating, just... seeing." Summer responds. "And he seems to get on well with my dad. We went out for supper last night and they hit it off."

"Oh, I see." Marissa says with a smirk on her face.

"It's gonna feel weird though." Summer says. "Seeing as Ryan and Cohen will still be there and we'll have to still see them at school and stuff."

"Yeh, but we can ignore them I suppose?" Marissa says.

Marissa thinks back about Ryan and how seeing him yesterday at school just brought back some fond memories again of the two of the together.

"I guess." Summer responds

Summer thinks about having seen Seth last night at the restaurant. Even though she was with another guy, just seeing him also brought back some fond memories.

They both realize that it won't actually be that easy to just ignore them. Their feelings are still very strong for Ryan and Seth.

Summer snaps out of her thinking state.

"Hurry up, Coop. The mall waiteth for no man." Summer rushes Marissa. Marissa just finishes putting on her make up and they leave together in Summer's car.

TUESDAY MORNING, AT THE COHEN'S

Ryan walks in from the poolhouse to find Seth already in the kitchen having breakfast.

"Morning." Ryan mumbles and pours himself some coffee.

"Mmm" Seth responds finishing off a mouth-full of corn-flakes. "Ryan. You still haven't told me about what happened last night... that little performance at the Lighthouse."

"And I still what to know about Julie and Luke." Kirsten says as she enters the kitchen, still in her dressing gown.

"No, mom, no you don't." Seth answers.

"You know about it?" Kirsten says and looks at Ryan and then back at Seth. "You and I still need to chat about your little summer vacation... we haven't decided what to do with you yet." Kirsten says to Seth.

"Yes, great mom. Can't wait, really." Seth says.

Sandy walks in and asks. "Boys, aren't you going to school?"

"It's registration week, dad and we did all our registering yesterday, so the rest of the week is ours." Seth replies.

"I've got to go back and see my advisor on Wednesday." Ryan replies.

At that, Seth gets up and grabs Ryan who's standing against the cupboard with a cup of coffee in his hand. They head out to the poolhouse.

"Ok, spill it." Seth says as he sits down on the bed. Ryan stays standing. Then after a few minutes, sits on the chair opposite the bed.

"I saw Summer yesterday." Ryan begins, not enjoying this.

"hmmm... Thanks for that. I feel really enlightened with this information. But guess what Ryan, so did I. And she was ignoring me." Seth says sarcastically.

"... At the Lighthouse restaurant." Ryan finishes his sentence.

"And seeing her made your heart pulsate so much you couldn't put complete sentences together while speaking to my parents last night? I know how you feel... it happens to me all the time." Seth says in his usual sarcastic manner.

"...with Kyle and her dad." Ryan continues.

"Her dad, hey, and Kyle?" Seth asks and sits in the standard thinking position, but now he's not so sarcastic as his facial expressions change to a look of emotional hurt. Ryan nods. "You don't mean Water-polo Kyle?" Seth looks up at Ryan, who again just nods.

"God, she dumped me and dates a guy who shaves his legs!" Seth says exasperated and getting sarcastic again. It's not only his humor, but sarcasm is often the only way Seth can express himself.

"You don't know that they were dating." Ryan says.

"Her dad was there you say?" Seth asks. Ryan nods his head. "Did it look like he was having a good time?"

"Yeh, I suppose." Ryan says.

"Then they're dating. And if not, they will be." Seth says and flops back on the bed.

A long silence proceeded, as both Seth and Ryan thinking about the girls they once knew, or thought they knew, and loved.

Eventually Ryan breaks the silence. "You okay?" He asks Seth.

Seth just lies there for a moment, pondering.

"How do you compete with a guy who hates bodily hair?" Seth says thoughtfully.

"How do you compete with the guy who lives next door?" Ryan says.

"Kyle's living next door?" Seth enquires... then realizes. "OH right. Gotcha."

WEDNESDAY MORNING, BETWEEN THE LIVING ROOM AND THE KITCHEN

Kirsten is rushing here and there as she plans for Newport's latest charity event. Sandy is following her close behind.

"I don't know why you do this to yourself, honey." Sandy says.

"I don't, it just happens." Kirsten says as she walks from the kitchen back to the living room and picks up some papers on the table.

"Quit." Sandy says with enthusiasm on his face. "Quit."

"Sandy I can't quit, you know that. This is Julie's event and I offered to help." Kirsten says and walks back to the living room.

"Why is it that whenever you offer to help that woman you end up doing all the work?" Sandy persists. "Quit."

"This could quite possibly be our last social event for a long time, and I want it to be a good one." Kirsten stops and says to Sandy.

"Really? Last one! You're just trying to get my hopes up again, aren't you?" Sandy says with smiling.

"If a miracle doesn't happen for the Newport Group, then yes. We'll probably have to sell this house and move away." Kirsten says and resumes her pacing between the living room and the kitchen.

"Ah... stop it. I can't take all this excitement in one day. No more parties and then moving." Sandy says with even more enthusiasm.

"I've got to go make sure the hall's ready for tonight. You gonna give me hand?" Kirsten says to Sandy.

"You can have more than just my hand!" Sandy says and grabs Kirsten in to a loving hug. "Let's make our exit from Newport a big bang event."

"I don't know why you're been so smug about this..." Kirsten says. "If we have to move, you'll have to find a real job." She says with sarcastic mockery in her eyes.

Just then Julie enters through the front door.

"This is a disaster!" Julie exclaims. "The caterers have only catered for 200 people. Kirsten! This is going to be a disaster!"

"Julie... 200 people? How many people are you expecting?" Kirsten says as she lets go of Sandy who walks off to the kitchen.

"That's not all... the decorators can't make it until 3pm... that only leaves them 4 hours to get everything ready... it's going to be a disaster!" Julie says. "I need to sit down." She sits down on the sofa in the living room.

Kirsten comes back from the kitchen, hands Julie a cup of coffee, who takes it in both hands and takes a sip. Kirsten sits down on the sofa opposite Julie.

"Julie that will be enough time. I've asked Ryan to help and he'll get Seth, so there's more hands. It'll be fine. I've worked it all out." Kirsten says reassuringly to Julie.

"Oh, Kirsten thank you. Marissa and her new friend, what's his name, Mark, will be there too. She said they can all help out!" Julie says with something of a renewed vigor and stands up.

"Excellent. We were just heading down there now. You're going to come with us?" Kirsten says as she gets up.

Sandy, Kirsten and Julie leave the house together.

IN THE POOLHOUSE

Ryan is getting ready to go see his advisor. He is sitting at the bottom of the bed, tying his shoe laces.

Seth enters.

"Hey Ryan, I was thinking... After your visit this morning, we could perhaps do a bit of sailing... we haven't done that for ages and the go down to the beach find us some new honeys" Seth says as he walks in and sits down on the chair.

"We can't. I promised your mom we'd help out with moving stuff for tonight's party." Ryan says.

"We, Ryan?" Seth says. "What's this 'we'? You know I don't do manual hard labor... You've forgotten: I'm the brains... you're the brawn. Never the two shall inter-mingle, okay."

"You can tell your mom that then... sure she'll understand." Ryan says with a grin on her face.

"Uhmm... ok... what time must we be where?" Seth says keeping in mind it's not a good idea to say no to his mom.

"But Ryan, after that, can we just put some Seth/Ryan time on the books? I feel we're like living past each other..." Seth says persistently.

"Yeh, sure." Ryan says in a hurry.

"You ever see that movie Sliding Doors, Ryan?... that's what we're like... just sliding past each other." Seth says as he follows Ryan out the door.

Sure... you and me... tonight... after the party." Ryan says, leaving Seth standing there who throws his arms in the air.

AT THE HALL

Later that day Ryan and Seth arrive at the hall together... just around lunch time.

Kirsten catches them. "How was your meeting with your advisor?" She asks Ryan

"She wasn't there... I just left the assignment on her desk." He replies.

At that point Marissa and Mark, and Summer and Kyle arrive. Kyle's not looking too impressed about being there, but Summer kind of forced him to come.

"Don't worry; it'll all be over in a few hours." Seth says to Kyle.

Kyle just looks at him. "Shut up, queer!" Kyle responds.

"At least I don't have gleaming smooth legs." Seth says quietly under his breath, but Kyle hears him.

"What you say?" Kyle says and steps in front of him, right in his face.

"Nothing okay. I just said I wonder where's the gleaming loose pegs." Seth says slightly timidly. "We need them... to pin up the chandeliers." Seth points up to the light-fittings.

Ryan and Mark both step in from the side. "Got a problem, man?" Ryan asks Kyle with a look of don't-mess-with-me on his face. Mark clenches his fits for a fight.

Kirsten swiftly steps in to dissolve a potential fight. "Uhmm... boys, thanks for coming around to help." Kirsten says quickly, as the four of them disperse.

Kirsten promptly dishes out orders: "Ryan and Mark, I need you guys to move those tables over there to over here." Kirsten says pointing as she talks.

"Seth, I need you to make sure all the paintings on the walls are straight... maybe get Marissa to help you with that..." Kirsten says

"Summer could you please double-check the guest list for me and Kyle, come with me, I have something special for you to do." Kirsten finishes barking out orders as her and Kyle walk off.

Ryan and Mark head off to arrange the tables. Ryan decides to take the high road and make some small talk with Mark.

"Nice little stunt you almost pulled off there." Ryan enquires as the two of the pick up a table.

"Thanks. I just don't like a$$holes like that who try and act all big stuff." Mark replies as he lifts his end of the table. "Besides, You are quite the take-charge kind of man."

"Some guys around here are not easy to mix with." Ryan replies. "You've just got to look after your own and you'll be fine. So, how've you found Newport so far?" Ryan says lightheartedly referring to the recent events.

"Cool. Haven't had much time to explore, but it seems cool." Mark says jokingly. "Tell me, how did you manage to fit in so quickly?"

"I kind of didn't have a choice. It was either the Cohen's or Juvi..." Ryan responded half-smiling now.

"Yeh, I head about that. Marissa told me." Mark says as he and Ryan put down the first table and head back for another one.

"She did?" Ryan asks a little suspicious.

"Yeh. You are all she talks about it. When ever we're together it is like, 'I remember when Ryan did that...', or 'Ryan did it this way...' Man! It is difficult living in the shoes of someone like you!" Mark exclaims teasingly.

Ryan just half smiles as they pick up another table.

"You interested in her?" Ryan asks Mark

"I... I don't know man." Mark says feeling a little uncomfortable. "I mean... you're her ex... speaking to you about it is..."

"It's cool. I mean, she's cool." Ryan says uncomfortably. "Besides, it seems like she's ready to move on, so if you want to..."

"...But your reputation for hitting people..." Marks says smiling at Ryan

"I promise I won't hit you." Ryan says teasingly back at Mark. "... at least not more than once..."

"Glad to hear it." Mark says

"but of course... you'll be in hospital for a long while." Ryan replies jokingly.

They put down the second table and take a break and chat for a little while. Ryan and Mark talk for a long while about all kinds of things. The two of them seem to be hitting off a very unlikely friendship.

On the other end of the hall, Seth and Marissa are inspecting the works of art and murals.

"How was your summer?" Seth says after a long while of silence.

"Good. And yours?" Marissa says

"Good." Seth replies.

"I'm sure it was." Marissa says sarcastically.

"What does that mean?" Seth asks quizzically.

"Summer told me about your little trip to Catalina and the new 'friends' you made while you were there." Marissa says unpleasantly.

"She did?" Seth responded in a half-sarcastic kind of way.

"You really hurt her feelings you know." Marissa responded.

"Well, if she would just stop and listen to me, she would know that is not how it went down. They were just friends helping me out. Chances are I'm never going to see them again anyway." Seth responded defensively. He and Marissa continue to adjust the paintings.

"What about you and Ryan?" Seth reverts the conversation off himself.

"It's not easy dating a guy who you know could always run off to sort out someone else's crisis. Besides, Ryan made his own bed... and slept in it... with another woman... now he must live in it by himself." Marissa said.

"Wow. That's very understanding of you, Marissa. I'm sure he'll be glad to know you've got his back in every situation." Seth said sarcastically.

"Don't preach to me Seth Cohen! You spilt the moment he left. His moving hurt you as much as me, so don't get all self-righteous." Marissa says, almost shouting.

"Well, at least I know a little something about forgiveness. You should try it some day. Maybe you won't be all so uptight so often." Seth said and walked away leaving Marissa standing there thinking about Ryan.

THAT EVENING AT THE PARTY

The party had been underway for almost an hour already and just about all the guests had arrived. Everything was perfect. It was an evening of cocktails, live music and dancing. Kirsten was standing near the entrance of the room with her hair up, and dressed in a stunning custom-designed black evening gown with sequence of silver beading running down the back and across the front.

"Kiki, this party is amazing." Julie says as she walks up to Kirsten sipping on some champaign.

Kirsten just takes another sip of her wine and doesn't say a word. She is totally exhausted from the day's preparations.

"Oh, Richard!" Julie shouts from across the room as she sees some she recognized. "Catch up with you later Kirsten." And off Julie rushes to engage in another shallow conversation.

Caleb hovers towards Kirsten and kisses her on the side of the cheek. "Fabulous party once again, Kiki."

"Thanks dad." Kirsten replies. "How you holding up?" She asks with concern.

"As well as can be expected." Caleb replies. "Don't worry about me. I have yet to let anyone walk over me, so I'll be fine."

Over at the bar Ryan orders a drink for himself and Seth. They are both dressed in handsome Armani suits and ties.

"So, Ryan. I saw you and Mark being all buddy-buddy this afternoon." Seth asks. "What's the deal? Going behind enemy lines? A lill case of keeping your enemies closer? Huh, huh?"

"No, he's cool." Ryan says.

"Agreed. Any guy prepared to take on the water polo captain is cool in my books too. But what's your GP?" Seth enquires.

"Nothing. We just chatted." Ryan replies just managing to recollect the whole GP story.

"Just chatted?" Seth says sarcastically.

"Yes, just chatted." Ryan says affirming.

As they turn around they see Marissa and Mark dancing. Summer is trying to get Kyle to dance, but he's not all too keen on the idea. As they turn back towards the bar, Seth catches sight of someone entering the hall. He quickly turns around to face the bar again and pulls Ryan around too.

"Ryan... slowing turn around and look towards the doorway..." Seth says.

Ryan turns and Seth quickly stops him. "Not so quick... you'll make it look like your looking. You gotta be stealth."

"Seth. Who'm I looking at?" Ryan asks.

"Deborah, Ryan. The girl from Catalina I told you about. She's there." Seth says.

"What's she wearing?" Ryan asks

"Red dress... blond hair..." Seth replies.

"You mean Ms. Julian?" Ryan asks.

"Ms who?..." Seth says and turns around look now to.

"No man... that one over there in the red..." Seth says

"That's Ms Julian... Debbie..." Ryan and Seth suddenly both look at each other in bewilderment. Debbie Julian, the Academic Advisor and Deborah from Catalina are one in the same person! And she's not alone. Tracey has also tagged alone.

"Good lord! Dude, your advisor is my..." Seth starts and then stops as she heads over in their direction. "Ok, she's coming this way. Just act cool, just act cool." Seth says.

"That's gonna be difficult for you." Ryan says to Seth as he takes a big sip of his drink.

"Good evening gentlemen. Ryan. Seth." Debbie says and looks at the two of them as she says their names. Tracey comes alongside her, and Seth introduces Ryan and Tracey.

Tracey is a little shorter than Debbie, but still taller than Ryan. She is wearing a slivery dress and has dark brunette hair.

"Good... evening Deborah. Tracey." Seth greets them very politely. "It's been a while."

"Hi... Ms... Deb..." Ryan says stumbling to decide what to call her. She just smiles at him.

"So, what you boys been up to? I read your paper Ryan... I'm very impressed. We may need to look over those subjects of yours." Debbie says to Ryan.

"yeh.. cool." Ryan says uneasily.

"So, you're a teacher?" Seth asks still totally shocked.

"Actually, I'm a guidance councilor by profession. This is my last year of studying and I'm doing my internship at Harbor." Debbie explained.

"And I'm just here for the fun!" Tracey said as she laughs.

"Wow. You never told me before." Seth responded.

"You never asked." Debbie retorted.

"So, Seth, where's this Summer I've heard so much about?" Tracey asks.

Seth points shyly in Summer's direction.

"Doesn't look like she's YOUR girlfriend." Debbie says emphasizing the 'your'.

"Thank you for that good observation. We're kind of apart for a while..." Seth says.

"They're broken up." Ryan corrects him.

"Ah... I'm getting the picture." Debbie says.

"And you... you must have a girlfriend... young stud such as yourself." Tracey says looking Ryan up and down.

"No... she's over there with that other guy." Ryan says and points them out on the dance floor.

"Oh, you boys are all alone tonight." Debbie says with mock concern.

"Your sensitivity is so... non-existent." Seth replies.

After the four of them stand in awkward silence for a while, Tracey decides to speak up.

"Well, are you going to ask us to dance or we just gonna stand and talk all night long?" Tracey prompts sarcastically. Seth and Ryan look at each other and then Ryan takes Tracey's hand and Seth Debbie's. They go dance for a while on the floor.

On the other side of the room, Summer spots them and is suddenly feeling very jealous. "Who's that... thing Cohen is with?" She thinks to herself.

Frustrated, Summer turns to Kyle. "Come... we're dancing!" She grabs his hand and pulls a reluctant Kyle on to the dance floor.

Marissa and Mark are already dancing. She spots Ryan with Tracey and wonders who she is and where she's come from. "Must be his chaperone." She thinks jealously to herself, and then puts her head on Mark's shoulder.

STILL AT THE PARTY

Kirsten is sitting at a table by herself as Sandy is off on the other side of the hall chatting with a crowd of people and strangely enough looking like he's having more fun at this party than his wife. From the corner of his eye he spots his wife looking very dejected and tired. He quickly ends his conversation with the crowd and heads over to Kirsten.

"Hey gorgeous." Sandy says as he stands alongside Kirsten. She looks up at him and gives him a very tired, but courteous smile.

"Wanna dance?" Sandy asks and stretches out his hand. Kirsten puts her drink down and places her hand in his as she stands up. They begin dancing as a slow song is playing.

"You look ravishing tonight." Sandy compliments Kirsten. They dance for what seems like forever. Occasionally they catch a glimpse of Julie and Caleb, Ryan and Tracey, Seth and Debbie, and the others dancing on the other end of the dance floor. The night seems perfect.

Julie and Caleb come dancing over to Kirsten and Sandy.

"Kiki," Julie calls Kirsten's attention. "Over there... the far table on the right." Julie indicates in the direction. Kirsten swings Sandy around and looks in the direction Julie has pointed out. She sees who Julie has spotted; Mr Arthur Rutherford from the meeting on Monday morning.

"I'm going over to chat to him." Julie says.

"No. Julie. Just leave it. I think there's been enough drama already." Kirsten says with 'us' being a reference to the Newport Group.

"Give her a chance Kiki." Caleb says. "... maybe she can pull off a miracle."

"You'll be hoping so." Sandy says to Caleb.

"Come over in twenty minutes and just follow my lead." Julie says and her Caleb leaves the dance floor.

"Oh, Sandy... I don't like the sound of this." Kirsten says.

"Well... Maybe for once Cal is right, you don't have much to loose, so I say just go with it." Sandy says, with good intentions.

After a while Kirsten and Sandy leave the dance floor too.

Kirsten feels nervous about this, wondering what Julie could be up to. She makes her way over to greet them, if only to stop the natural disaster, which is Julie Cooper Nichol, and of cause to introduce Sandy, who is not too chuffed with the idea now.

"Good evening Mr Rutherford." Kirsten politely greets as Arthur stands up.

"Please, call me Arthur." He says.

"This is my husband, Sandy." Kirsten introduces and Arthur and Sandy shake hands.

"And this is my beautiful wife, Virginia." Arthur introduces her. "Please, sit with us. We were just talking about the Newport Group deal."

"You where?" Kirsten says and looks at Julie.

"I'm not getting my hands dirty on this one." Sandy says and leaves the group. He makes his way over to Caleb who is standing off in the distance out of sight.

"Bet you sweating like a whore in a synagogue right now, hey Cal." Sandy says smugly.

Caleb just looks at him and takes a big sip of his drink.

"It's make or break time Cal. This is the last throw of the dice. If you've never been a praying man, now's a good time to start. If only for nothing other than because Julie's there!" Sandy says and pats Caleb on the shoulder.

Back at the table, Kirsten sits down.

"Julie was just telling me about your plans for the company, now that you're at the helm." Arthur explains to Kirsten.

"She was?" Kirsten says again looking over at Julie, who just smiles sheepishly.

"Yes, and I must say I am very impressed. Your five year excavation plan and amalgamation with some of the top construction companies is by far one of the best ideas I've heard for ages." Arthur continues. Kirsten keeps smiling, trying to stay in on what's going on.

"Kirsten, why don't you tell Mr Rutherford about the company's plans to fund the reconditioning of Orange County's historical monuments and edifices?" Julie says, putting Kirsten on the spot.

Arthur looks at Kirsten very intriguingly at this idea. Kirsten just gives Julie a glance that could make hell freeze over.

"Uhmm... yes. It's not completely finalized yet, but we believe our memorial buildings describe something of this wonderful county's personality and thus should be preserved at any cost." Kirsten says off the top of her head.

Arthur's wife gently indicates to him that time is getting on and that they need to be on their way.

"Ladies, tell you what: I would be a fool to not seriously consider investing in to a company with such promise." Arthur says as he stands up with his wife. "Give my secretary a call in the morning and let's set up an appointment to discuss the finer details."

Kirsten and Julie look completely perplexed and amazed. "Mr Rutherford, thank you. We'll talk in the morning." Kirsten says as her and Julie stands up and shakes his hand.

"Good evening ladies. I look forward to dealing with you in the future." And with that Arthur leaves.

"Julie, I don't what all that happened here and I don't know that I want to, but well done..." Kirsten says and hugs Julie. "... And thank you."

AT THE END OF THE PARTY

The time is 11:30pm and just about everyone's gone home. Seth, Ryan Debbie and Tracey are sitting around at a table just chatting. Marissa, Summer, Mark and Kyle had left quite a bit earlier.

"So what you guys doing now?" Debbie asks Ryan and Seth.

"Zzzz." Is all that Seth says.

"Come on man. The night is young." Tracey insists.

"You got any better ideas?" Ryan asks.

Tracey and Debbie both look at each other. "Actually, yes. There's this party..." Tracey begins to advertise.

"Oh no. Those things normally do not go down well with me." Ryan cuts in.

"Awww, come on. It'll be fun." Tracey persists.

"No, I really don't think it'll be a good idea." Ryan says.

"There may even be strippers there." Tracey says.

Ryan and Seth look at each; Seth suddenly not so tired.

"Well, it won't hurt." Ryan says. "Maybe for a little while."

"And if it sucks, we can always leave." Seth reasons with Ryan.

With that the four of them get up and head out. Seth informs Sandy of their plans as he leaves.

Half an hour later they arrive at the party. There is loud rave music playing, a bon fire on the front lawn and even an open bar. As they walk up the path to the front door, Debbie and Tracey are greeted by almost everyone they pass. They enter the house, and where the music is the loudest.

The quartet split up in to a duo... Debbie and Tracey head off and greet everyone they know and Seth and Ryan just kind of stand there for a while looking slightly lost. There is dancing and dim disco-strobe lighting. Sure enough on a table in the middle of the room is a stripper. Seth grabs some pretzels from a bow on a nearby table and stands and watches looking very impressed.

"This party is awesome!" Seth yells above the music at Ryan.

Ryan pats Seth on the back and heads off to the kitchen to grab a beer and then heads out back.

As he steps outside he sees Marissa and Mark are there too, but they do not see him. As he's about to go over to greet them, they pull in to a romantic kiss.

Ryan stops and just looks for while, before deciding against going to speak to them. He turns around to go back inside and as he does almost walks straight in to Tracey.

"What to do get some privacy?" Tracey asks.

Ryan takes a mouthful of beer. "Sure." He says and they both enter the house again. They pass Seth who is still standing watching the stripper and munching on pretzels. Ryan follows Tracey up the stairs to the first room on the right. The lights are off. They both enter and Tracey closes the door behind them.

"Thanks. I just needed..." Ryan begins, but is cut off as Tracey turns his around and attacks him with her lips. "...some breathing space." Ryan completes his sentence as they stop kissing, but not for long. They kiss again, this time longer, and they fall back on to the bed. Tracey starts unbuttoning Ryan's shirt.

Back down stairs Seth is still watching the stripper. As he stands there be sees Summer sitting by herself on the couch on the far side of the lounge.

He decides to go over and chat.

"Hey." Seth says. Summer just gives him an uninterested look.

"Kyle is..." Seth asks. Summer motions to the left with her head and Seth spots Kyle hanging around with his water-polo friends, looking very, very drunk. Seth decides to sit down next to Summer. There's a long, awkward silence for a while.

"Why do I always have such bad luck with guys?" Summer eventually says and takes a bit of her celery stick. But before Seth could say anything, Summer quickly blocks him. "Don't answer that."

"So where's Ryan?" Summer asks.

"I dunno; probably making out somewhere with some poor unsuspecting victim." Seth replies.

"uh hu. Never learns." Summer retorts.

"So, Cohen just tell me... You and her you never..." Summer asks as she looks over at Debbie who is dancing with another guy on the floor.

"Never... not once." Seth replies confidently.

"hmmm... okay." Summer responds.

"Okay what?" Seth asks.

"Just, Okay." Summer says.


	8. The Band

**CHAPTER 8: THE BAND**

AT THE CRAB SHACK

Ryan and Seth had spent the morning sailing together for the first time in a long, long while. It was an opportunity for them to put some Seth/Ryan time on the books. They spoke about everything, including the new relationships that have been developing with their ex's. After their sailing trip that had agreed to meet together with Debbie and Tracey at the Crab Shack for lunch.

As they sat there by a bunker next to a window, sipping on milkshakes, waiting for the ladies to arrive, Seth finally asked the question that he had been wondering about for the last few days.

"So... Ryan... you and Tracey... Where'd you go the other night at that party? You guys just seemed evaporate." Seth asks.

"We just need to get some breathing space." Ryan answered as he took a sip of his milkshake.

"Uh huh." Seth said unconvinced. "You didn't perhaps do a little extra heavy breathing... together did you?"

Ryan just gives him a look that says it all.

"Ahhh!" Seth says convinced now that he knows the answer.

"Ahhh! Nothing." Ryan says.

"So you didn't..." Seth pushes.

Again, Ryan just looks at him and takes a sip of his milkshake just as the ladies arrive. They sit down; Tracey next to Ryan, giving him a kiss as she sits, and Debbie next to Seth... but not with a kiss.

"So, what we eating?" Tracey asks and takes Ryan's milkshake and finishes it. He just smiles at her.

"I've heard the lobster is good here." Debbie responds.

"Yes." Seth agrees. "Yes it is. You can go and pick your own one if you want."

Just then, the waiter arrives and they place their orders. All four have the lobster, which incidentally happens to also be the special of the day.

"So, we're all going to Toby's tonight?" Seth asks.

"Who's Toby?" Debbie asks.

"Toby Joe's... it's the hottest, hippest, new club in Newport... and the Killers are playing tonight." Seth answers.

"Sure." Tracey responds. "We're game." And she side-hugs Ryan as she says this.

"WE are?" Ryan says.

"Common man... why you always gotta be so broody." Seth says.

"Okay, we can go... but no dancing." Ryan says.

"I'll dance. You can watch." Tracey says to him.

"Sounds good." Ryan replies.

They chat for a while longer as they wait for the food to arrive. Half an hour later it arrives and they all eat enjoyably. As they finish, they get ready to leave.

"You wanna come back to my place? I have a poolhouse... with views." Ryan says smiling to Tracey, who laughs.

"No, we've got some things to go do first. We'll meet you at your place in a couple of house and we can all go down together."

"Great. See you later." Seth says. Debbie and Seth hugged good bye as Ryan and Tracey kissed good bye. The ladies leave and Seth and Ryan walk out shortly afterwards.

As they're leaving they see Marissa and Mark sitting together at a nearby table. Marissa has seen Tracey and Ryan kissing. They casually greet each other as they pass by.

"So... nothing happened?" Seth jests with Ryan clearly picking up on their romance developing.

"Maybe, not nothing..." Ryan says with a knowing smile and Seth jokingly flat-hands Ryan on the back of the head, which Ryan quickly returns, but Seth ducks in time. They head back home to get ready for the concert.

THE COHEN'S

It's Saturday afternoon lunch time. Sandy has just got in from his regular Saturday morning surf and is in the kitchen preparing himself a bagel. Kirsten has just completed a meeting that morning with Mr Rutherford to finalize a multi-million dollar deal that will keep the Newport Group afloat and keep Caleb out of jail, but there was a twist.

"Sandy, I don't know how to break the news to my dad. It's the one and only condition that Arthur gave, but I'd rather have ten others than this. I don't even know if I want the job permanently." Kirsten said as she sat down with a cup of coffee next to Sandy.

"Hmmm." Sandy says. "These pumpkin muffins are delicious!" Sandy exclaims, as he picks up a muffin from the basket and takes a bit.

"Sandy!" Kirsten exclaims. "I'm being serious here."

"Honey... you know how I feel about your father." Sandy says as he puts down the muffin. "Personally, I think you are much better as the head of the Newport Group than Caleb. It was under his administration that the company nearly went under. If it weren't for you and Julie..."

"That's another big concern... even bigger than me being CEO is Julie being second in command." Kirsten says.

"I'll agree with you there. It has 'natural disaster' written all over it. Hurricane Julie is on the way!" Sandy says mockingly.

"You're not exactly inspiring a whole lot of confidence." Kirsten says to him sarcastically.

"Well..." Sandy says with emphasis. "It's is Julie. The name in itself doesn't conjure up a whole lot of assurance. But who knows... she has surprised in the past and after all it was her undertaking that was the basis for the deal going through."

"Perhaps you're right." Kirsten says surrendering to the inevitable. "There's no deal without her there, so I better just get to like it."

"Now that's the spirit!" Sandy says sarcastically again. He can see Kirsten is taking a bit of strain with all of this though. "Look, if you want me to break the news to Caleb..."

"No, but thanks." Kirsten says. "I think my father should here this from me."

Just then Caleb and Julie come walking in arm in arm, and looking very much in love again.

"What must I hear from you, Kiki?" Caleb says as he enters the kitchen just to overhear the last bit of the conversation. "Anything you've got to say will be fine with me. You have saved this company and me!" Caleb kisses Kirsten on the forehead.

"Well Cal, you've managed to do it again. I don't know how you always seem to crawl out of the tightest situations." Sandy says. "It's very impressive." And he gets up to put his plate in the basin.

"I was thinking we should go out tonight and celebrate. A little dinner, a little dancing, a lot of wine!" Julie says.

"Sounds great." Kirsten says. "The kids are going out to that concert tonight, so it would be perfect."

"So, Kiki, what is it you had to tell me?" Caleb asks.

"Uhmm... dad maybe you should sit down for this." Kirsten says.

"Wine anyone?" Sandy offers quickly.

"Please." Caleb and Kirsten reply in tandem.

Caleb, Julie, Kirsten and Sandy make their way to the living room to chat. Kirsten tells them of the meeting that she had with Mr Rutherford that morning and of his conditions: that Caleb step down as CEO and Kirsten take over, and that Julie be appointed as second in charge. Naturally Caleb is not very charmed with the idea, and naturally Julie is overwhelmed with the prospects of being in charge of so much.

"So he wants me to have nothing to do with the company?" Caleb asks.

"Well, not exactly." Kirsten says. "I told him that you hold some of the major investments within the company and it would be impossible to just keep you away or simply cut you off."

"And...?" Caleb asks

"And... he agreed that you can remain a silent partner, and retain an office, but the decision making would be in my court." Kirsten ends the conversation.

Caleb sits and thinks for a while. Eventually he speaks up. "Well Kiki, congratulations are in order. You and Julie have rescued the Newport Group and your deserve it." Caleb said as he stands up.

"Uhmm... dad... are you okay with this?" Kirsten says also standing and quizzing as this was not quite the kind of respond you'd expect from a man who says he'll never allow anyone to walk all over him.

"Of course I'm okay with." Caleb replies. "There comes a time in every man's life when what he has spent all his time building and establishing he needs to hand it over... And I can think of no one better than my own daughter. This has turned out better than expected."

Julie and Sandy now also stand up and they together with Kirsten as very surprised with Caleb's reactions.

"Besides," Caleb says, "It will give me more time to spend with my family and do the things I've always want to do." He kisses Julie as he says this. "Now shall we go celebrate?"

SATURDAY EVENING, THE POOLHOUSE

Ryan and Seth are in the poolhouse. Seth is dressed in a semi-formal black and white shirt and black pants. He is ready, and lying on Ryan's bed waiting for him to get out the shower. Seth has put on The Killers in the background so Ryan can get used to them.

Ten minutes later Ryan emerges from the bathroom still drying his air with a towel. He is dressed in stone-colored khaki pants and a black tank-top.

"So this is the Killers?" Ryan asks as he sits down on the couch to put his shoes on.

"Ryan, I hear the skepticism in your voice, but trust me... tonight is going to be awesome!" Seth says with enthusiasm as he gets up to turn the music up a bit.

"Right." Ryan responds, not so enthusiastic. "Summer and Marissa are going to be there right?"

"So I've heard." Seth replies.

"And what about Summer finding out about Debbie?" Ryan quizzes Seth.

"What about Marissa finding out about Tracey?" Seth responds with another question. "If Summer tries anything, I'll just hide behind you..."

Ryan just looks up at Seth. "You've got to learn to defend yourself." Ryan says as he finishes tying his laces.

"Why?" Seth asks. "Ryan, you back... I don't need to defend myself..." And Seth pats Ryan on the shoulder. Ryan looks back at Seth, who quickly stops patting.

"But you know what Ryan? It doesn't matter; coz tonight is going to be awesome." Seth replies.

Again, Ryan just looks at him, not sharing in his enthusiasm.

They hear the doorbell ring. Seth quickly jumps up. "I'll get it. You finish doing your hair." Ryan gives him a look as to say 'what's wrong with my hair?'

Seth opens the door and their stands Debbie and Tracey looking totally exquisite.

"Wow..." Seth exclaims. "You look... wow." He says and admires them both.

"Well, you are going to invite us in?" Debbie asks and they both walk in as Seth steps aside.

"Stylin pad, hommie." Tracey says as she looks around at the house.

"It's aiii." Seth replies.

Ryan comes walking through from the poolhouse.

"Hey." He says and gives Tracey a kiss, who in turn does some remodeling of Ryan's hair style.

"Now that looks rad." Tracey says and Ryan smiles at her.

"Rad?" Seth says sarcastically. "God, who speaks like that anymore?" Tracey and Ryan both look at Seth, who quickly shuts up.

"Ready to go?" Debbie asks and hands everyone their tickets.

"Let's jet." Seth replies quickly and the four of them head out the door, but are stopped by Sandy on their exit.

"Home by 12... No drugs... no alcohol..." Sandy says. "And no calling me to bail friends out tonight. Your mother and I are gonna get some 'alone' time."

"That's an image I didn't need." Seth responds and they all get in to the car.

AT THE CONCERT

They queue at the door and can hear the Killers CD playing in the club from outside. As they're waiting there, educating Ryan about the band, Marissa and Mark arrive, and shortly after them Summer with Kyle and some other guys from the water-polo team. They all seem to be already enjoying themselves, Summer included.

"Hey guys." Mark greets them.

"Sup foo." Seth replies.

"Hey." Marissa greets Ryan.

"Hey." Ryan replies.

"Hello. I'm Tracey." Tracey greets Marissa, but a little bitchy-like and smacks Ryan on the shoulder for not introducing them.

"Oh, hi. I'm Marissa." Marissa replies coldly.

Seth nods at Summer as she looks over at him to greet her, but she pretends not to see him and ignores him. Seth looks back at Ryan who's seen the whole thing and just shakes his head to indicate to Seth not to worry too much about it.

"So this is gonna be an awesome concert... what you reckon?" Mark says making conversation.

"Absolutely!" Marissa responds. "These guys are great."

"I think there's someone else here who's also great." Tracey says hanging on to Ryan. She was obviously referring to him with the intention of make Marissa jealous. It was working, but Ryan was feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"We gonna all hang together?" Mark asks.

"Sure. We can all totally hang out." Summer responds. (However, later, as they enter the club they all get separated in the crowd.)

The queue starts moving. They hand their tickets to the usher and enter the club just as the band begins playing.

Ryan and Tracey, Seth and Debbie maneuver their way to the front of the stage. Marissa and Mark are standing further down, as well as Summer and Kyle and the crew.

The concert is rocking and the band is great. Ryan offers to get drinks, which everyone gladly accepts. Seth tags along to help carry.

Summer comes over to Marissa and says she's going to the bathroom to fix up her make-up. Marissa decides to tag along.

They both enter the bathroom.

"Coop. Isn't this concert amazing?" Summer says.

Marissa looks over at Summer. "Yeh, it's okay." Marissa says halfheartedly.

"So, you are totally okay with Ryan and Tracey?" Summer responds picking up that his could be why Marissa seems a little subdued.

"For sure. If he wants to date his mom, that's his business." Marissa replies.

"Coop!" Summer laughs and jokingly smacks her on the arm. "It's only like a four year age difference."

"And you are fine with Seth and Debbie?" Marissa reverses the questioning on to Summer.

"Totally." Summer replies and touches up her lip stick. "Dating teachers is so 1990... if that's what he wants..."

"Good. Just checking." Marissa says also checking her lip stick.

"Coming Coop?" Summer says as she leaves the bathroom.

"In a minute." Marissa says. Summer leaves. Marissa pulls a bottle of vodka out her handbag and takes a mouthful. She puts the top back on and the bottle back in her bag and heads back to the concert.

STILL AT THE CLUB

At the bar, Ryan orders the drinks.

"Ryan, it's like I just don't exist." Seth says above the music to his friend. "I worked so hard to get her attention and now we're back to square one."

"I wouldn't worry about it." Ryan replies. "What about Debbie?"

"Dude... have you seen her? She's like my mom." Seth replies.

"Oh common man... the age gap is only four years." Ryan responds. "I say go for her. She likes you."

"Ryan... she is a school teacher. I cannot date a school teacher okay... it'd be too weird... and very last millennium." Seth replies, and they picks up on his last line... "She what?"

"Likes you. Said so to him earlier tonight." Ryan replies.

"Humm..." Seth muses. "Interest prosps."

"Awesome concert, hey?" Mark says as he comes to the bar to pick up drinks too.

"Oh... uhmm..." Ryan begins to say something to Mark and then stops.

"What's that?" Mark says.

"Nothing... just Marissa prefers this drink." Ryan says.

"Okay, thanks man... for the tip." Mark says and changes the drinks.

"Yeh... cool." Ryan replies.

The drinks are served and the guys carry them back over to where the ladies are standing, and leave Mark hovering at the bar. He gets the drinks and just before heading back to Marissa, he pulls a small bag from his pocket and empties its contents in to Marissa's drink. (It looks like a fine, white powdery substance.) Quickly looking around to see that no one saw him, he folds the packet neatly and puts it in his pocket again.

Marissa takes her drink from Mark and thanks him weakly. She keeps her eye on Ryan and Tracey who seem to be having a really good time and not at all too concerned about Marissa who's clearly unhappy with the current state of affairs. She sips her drink.

Seth and Debbie are really enjoying the concert now and are dancing together. Seth has taken Ryan's advice and has decided to enjoy the concert and not think about Summer... at least not for tonight. Summer is not too happy. She has seen Seth dancing with Debbie and old feelings are resurfacing.

Marissa has finished off her drink and hands the glass to Mark and asks him to fetch another one.

"Whoa!" Mark exclaims. "That was quick!" He compares her empty one to his more-than-fall-full one.

"Just get another one... and make it a double." Marissa snaps.

"This is going to be easier than I thought," Mark thinks to himself and he heads back to the bar. Five minutes later Mark comes back with another drink.

An hour later, and Summer is no longer enjoying herself... mainly because Seth is. She cannot take it any more and walks outside to get some air.

Marissa has finished her second drink and asks Mark to go get another one for her. He looks at her and says, "Maybe you should slow down." Marissa retorts with a look that could kill... he gets the hint and heads back. Besides, I'm driving he reasons to himself.

As he approaches the bar, he sees Summer standing outside looking very down. He walks over to chat to her.

"Why so glum?" He asks. She doesn't respond but sees her look over in Seth's direction.

"If you still love him, you should just forgive him and get back together." Mark advises.

"He won't take me back. Look at him!" Summer responds. "He's enjoying it with this what's-her-face. I mean... look at her... she's beautiful. I cannot compete with that. I've really messed up my chances with him."

"You're beautiful too Summer. Really beautiful. And if he can't see that, then he's the one missing out." Mark replies and Summer turns to look at him. There seems to be chemistry between them... and they both feel it. Mark leans in to kiss Summer, who for a moment is caught up in the emotion, but at the last minute pulls away.

"What? No... I can't." Summer stops.

"I've... uhmm...." Mark stops.

"Yeh... I'm so..." Summer says and walks off quickly.

STILL AT THE CLUB...

Mark waits at the bar to get the drinks he's ordered and then heads back to where Marissa is standing. She is now swaying a little. He hands her the drink, which this time she just gulps down like its fruit juice.

Ryan and Tracey are really enjoying themselves. They've been kissing randomly the whole evening. Seth and Debbie have also been getting their groove on.

Marissa cannot take it anymore. She is not looking well.

"You want to go sit down?" Mark asks as he can see that Marissa is not feeling so good.

"No. I just need some... fresh... air." Marissa says. She heads to the bathroom and pushes her hair back which is looking very flailed at the moment. She takes the vodka out her bag and takes another mouthful. She attempts to put it back in her bag, but it falls and breaks on the floor. Some other girls around her look at her as if she's made. She quickly leaves the bathroom and exits the club.

Mark tried to follow her, but looses her in the crowd.

Outside, Marissa is stumbling around like a drunkard. Pockets of people around look at her, but don't offer any help. Pictures of Ryan and Tracey are going through her mind... of them having a good time... kissing.... Hugging.... and she cannot handle it.

Just then Mark comes running out and sees Marissa stumbling around. He stands and just looks at her for a while, and then snaps in to action.

"Marissa!" Mark shouts and runs up to her.

As he gets to her, she falls to the ground.

"Marissa... are you okay?" Mark asks

"Do I look okay to you!!" Marissa snaps. "Sorry... can we just please get outta here?"

"Sure." Mark says and picks Marissa up and carries her to the car.

Back inside the club, the band has finished their final song. The concert has been a great success and everyone is beginning to leave. Ryan, Tracey, Seth and Debbie all make their way to the car.

As they head to the car, they see Summer standing around.

"Hey Sum." Seth goes over to greet her. "Kyle ditch you again?"

"Don't be a smart-ass Cohen!" Summer snaps at him. "I'm waiting for them come out... they're my lift."

"You can come back with us if you like..." Seth says tentatively and Summer doesn't respond, but for a brief moment you can see she is considering it. "You know... if you got nothing else to do... We're going back to my place for a little play station."

"Uhmmm... No." Summer says. "Play station is like so last year."

"Suit yourself Summer." And with that Seth joins the others standing by the car. They get in and head back to the Cohen's.

IN MARK'S CAR, HEADING BACK TO NEWPORT

Mark drives Marissa back to her house. She has passed out in the passenger seat and has not said a word since they left the club's parking lot. No music is playing and the atmosphere is solemn.

Marissa's cell phone starts ringing, but she doesn't hear it. Mark does. He reaches over Marissa and fiddles in her bag. By the time he gets to it, the call has ended. He quickly checks to see whose number it is... and then turns it off.

They drive on for about 10 minutes more, and as they're about a kilometer from Marissa's house, Mark gently shakes her awake.

She lifts her head and only opens one eye. "Where... what... Where are we?" Marissa says a little dazed.

"We're almost at your house." Mark says.

"Oh, no. Please. I don't want to go home... not now. I can't see my mom like this." Marissa quickly responds and holds her forehead. "Can we not go back to your place for while?"

"Sure, if that's what you want." Mark replies with a smile, and makes a u-turn. He pulls in to the driveway and parks the car. Marissa has fallen back to sleep again.

Mark carries Marissa upstairs to his bedroom and lies her down in his bed. She slowly attempts sits up.

"You need to lie down." Mark insists sounding very caring.

"I'm fine. I just need some water." Marissa replies.

"Wait here... I'll be back." Mark responds quickly and races downstairs to get some water.

Mark gets back with the water, and some tablets, which he hands to Marissa.

"Here." Mark says, "These will make you feel better."

"Thanks." Marissa says and takes the tablets and the watch.

She lies back down on the bed.

"I'm sorry about tonight." Marissa apologizes. "I... I don't know what came over me."

"Don't worry about it." Mark says forgivingly.

"Where are your parents?" Marissa asks as she closes her eyes.

"They're out of town for the weekend." Mark replies. "Anniversary." He climbs on the bed next to Marissa, and looks in to her eyes.

"What?" Marissa says after a while of him just staring at her.

"You know... even when you're drunk, you're still beautiful." Mark says flirtingly with a smile on his face.

Marissa turns and looks in to his eyes. He gets up top of her and they begin to kiss. Mark starts undressing Marissa, and she in turn starts to take his shirt off. They kiss a bit and Mark caresses Marissa's neck.

Just as they're getting in to it, Marissa starts thinking about Ryan. She again pictures him kissing and hugging Tracey. Even in her drunken states, she realizes she still has feelings for him. She stops.

"No..." Marissa says and tries to push Mark off. "I'm not ready... not yet." However, Mark is much stronger than her and pushes her back down. He looks down at her with a look of pure evil on his face.

"You mean, YES. Isn't this what you wanted?" Mark says aggressively. "Why would you want to come over to my place?"

"MARK!" No, you're scaring me." Marissa says. She looks in to his eyes, and suddenly senses a fear coming over her that she has never felt before. She is petrified.

"NO!!!" Marissa yells. She begins to cry and attempts to wrestle free at the same time, but Mark quickly pushes her down on the bed, puts his hand over her mouth to shut her up.

Still holding her down, he reaches in to the side table draw and pulls out a knife. He pulls it up to Marissa's throat so close that its blade grazes her skin a trickle of blood pours down her neck.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!!" Mark yells through gritted teeth.

Marissa lies totally still, terrified and crying uncontrollably. She pleads and begs Mark to stop, but he ignores her.

"It's no use shouting... this house is miles away from anything else. Yours is the closest, and that's half a mile so away." Mark says ever so tranquilly.

Marissa lies there terrified, as Mark quickly sits up to unzip his pants.

Just then the doorbell rings.

Mark stops suddenly, contemplating whether to answer it or not. He does his zip up again, and gives Marissa a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Wait right here and don't make a sound..." Mark says. "... If you want to live.", and shows her the knife as he says this. "I'll be right back. Don't miss me too much."

He puts the knife in its pouch and tucks it in the back of his pants. He pulls the key out the inside keyhole, closes the door behind him and locks it.

IN THE COHEN'S CAR

Death Cab is playing on the CD player and Seth and Debbie are sitting upfront, with Ryan and Tracey in the back. They are heading back to the Cohen's place. They are all having a great time discussing the concert and how awesome the band was. Ryan and Tracey are play-fighting on the backseat.

"Hey, you guys think we should check with Mark and Marissa what they're doing?" Ryan says from the back. "The six of us could hang out or something."

"Sure, but I don't think Marissa really likes me much." Tracey says hesitantly.

"She just doesn't know you." Ryan reassures her and gives her a side-on hug.

"Here, buddy." Seth hands Ryan his cell phone. "Make the call."

Ryan takes the phone and calls Marissa's number. It rings for a while and eventually goes to voicemail. Ryan leaves a message.

"Hey Mariss. Ryan here. Call me when you get this." And Ryan hangs up.

"Strange. No answer." Ryan says. "Anyone got Mark's number?" To which every replied, 'No'.

"We can take a ride past her place, and see if they're there." Seth says and heads to Marissa's.

On the way they pass Mark's house and Ryan sees Marissa's car parked outside. "Hey, wait." Ryan says. "I think they're at Mark's place. Marissa's car's outside." He points as he says this.

They drive up the motorway and park behind Marissa's car. The four of them walk up about 5 steps to the landing, Ryan in front. He rings the doorbell. There is a longish wait.

"Maybe they went out in Mark's car." Seth suggests after a while of no action.

"Yeh. Probably." Ryan says, but just as they're about to turn away, the door opens revealing Mark standing there. Ryan turns around and notices his shirt is very scruffy and his shoes are off.

"Hey guys." Mark greets them. "What's up? Sorry about the getup... I was just on my way to bed." Mark comments as he notices them kind of staring at the way he's dressed.

"Hey. We were just wondering if you and Marissa would like to join us. We're just gonna hang out at our place." Ryan says.

"Uhmm. Yeh. No." Mark says. "Sorry, guys. Marissa is a very tired. In fact she's already sleeping. I think she may have had one too many at the club tonight." Mark says with concern. "I was actually gonna call it a night too, but thanks for offering. I... we, really appreciate it."

"Okay, man. Well, see you at school next week." Seth says and they turn to leave.

"Uhmm... you sure. We're probably gonna play station it for a while..." Ryan pushes a bit, sensing something is not altogether right with this story.

"Yeh. I'm sure." Mark looks at Ryan and the two of them lock gazes for a moment.

Just then, they hear a loud bang sound coming from an upstairs room.

"What was that!" Ryan insists.

"Uhmm... oh... nothing." Mark says anxiously. "The dogs. Yeah. We lock them up when we get visitors... they cause a lot of commotion."

Ryan looks at Mark very suspiciously.

"Look dude. I'm very tired. Sorry I cannot join you guys tonight." Mark says edgily, feeling a bit threatened.

Ryan slowly turns and walks back to the car where the others are already waiting.

Mark watches them get in to the car, and then closes the front door behind him.

Ryan pulls Seth aside just before he gets a chance to get back in the car. "Something's wrong." Ryan says with concern to Seth. "Mark is hiding something. I don't what, but I know it's not good. I'm worried for Marissa."

"Come on, man. Not this again." Seth responds. "Remember Oliver? Let's not go there again."

"If I remember, it turned out I was right about him." Ryan replies feeling slightly annoyed now that Seth won't believe him again.

"Ok, so what, Ryan... We just gonna go in there and accuse Mark of what?... Holding Marissa against her will? Come on dude that is just too... Soap opera-ish." Seth responds. "Are you not just a little jealous perhaps? The girl you once knew and loved... with another guy?"

Ryan takes a deep breath, and realizes that Seth has a point. After all, he has no proof of anything. He says nothing more and they climb back in to the car. His suspicions are still very strong in his mind.

OUTSIDE MARK'S HOUSE

Seth, Debbie and Tracey get in the car and Seth starts it up. Ryan stands outside for a while, just staring at the door. He is still convinced something is not right.

"Come on, man." Seth rolls down his window and prompts Ryan.

Ryan sighs deeply and turns and walks to the other side of the SUV and opens the door.

Just as he's about to climb in, he again hears a strange banging noise, except this time it is accompanied with a loud screech that sends shivers down his spine.

Ryan slams the door shut and runs up to the front door. He tries the handle, but it's locked.

A third time he hears a loud noise.

"MARISSA!" Ryan yells as loud as possible and pounds on the door. "MARISSA!!!"

Seth runs up behind Ryan. "Call the cops... and your dad." Ryan says to him as he runs around the side of the house looking for another entrance.

The two ladies quickly run up to Seth who is looking completely shell-shocked. "Did you hear that scream?" Seth says utterly bewildered as he turns around and faces Debbie and Tracey.

"You should go with him." Debbie suggests. "He may need some help."

"Call the police... and my dad..." Seth says... he turns around, and then stops. "And call Summer too."

"Seth!" Debbie exclaims in disbelief.

"CALL HER!" Seth says almost shouting it, and runs around the house in the same direction he just saw Ryan go. He has no idea how he will be able to help. His heart is beating a hundred and fifty beats a minute.

Around back, Ryan has found a small half-open window, which he opens wide and slips through. Seth quickly climbs in behind Ryan, but not as elegantly and falls face-first on the wooden flooring of Mark's lounge.

"Owww..." Seth exclaims under his breath and rubs his face. Ryan smiles with amusement and helps him up.

They survey their new surroundings. All the lights are off, and the room is only dimly lit up by the moonlight from outside. From the lounge flows a family room and an entertainment room. A passageway can be seen heading towards the kitchen and on the right a flight of stairs leading up towards the bedrooms. They are at the back of the house and straight ahead can see the front door.

"MARISSA!" Ryan calls out again, but he gets no response. He calls out again, and again his calls are only returned by an eerie silence. He calls out Mark's name too, but also no answer.

Seth looks around for weapons and only finds a baseball bat, which he assumes to be Mark's. Ryan turns around from looking at the layout of the house and lets out a little laugh as he sees Seth holding the bat.

"These guys not pay their utilities bill?" Seth asks sarcastically and flicks on the light switch on the wall to his right. The room is flooded in to light.

"Okay... you look around here..." Ryan says to Seth. "I'm going upstairs." And with that they quickly part ways.

Seth searches the kitchen, entertainment room, and downstairs bathrooms and finds nothing of interest.

Ryan heads up stairs to the bedrooms. As he reaches the landing, he stops and calls Marissa's name out again, but still no responds. He opens the first door, which reveals nothing, same with the second. The third door is a bathroom, and the fourth door he finds open with no one inside. He reaches the very end of the passage and tries the final door, which he finds to be locked, but he can see light shining out from under the door. He bangs loudly on it.

"Marissa!" Ryan says as he bangs on the door.

"GO AWAY RYAN!" Is the reply he hears from within the room.

"Mark!! LEAVE HER ALONE!" Ryan yells and tries to kick the door in, but it doesn't budge.

"Marissa! Fight him!" Ryan advises. He tries desperately like a man possessed to kick the door in. It shows signs of giving way, but it's taking too long.

He backs away a bit and tries to kick the door in, but it doesn't give way. He kicks it a second and third time, but still no luck. Time is running out.

Inside the room Mark is on top of Marissa and she is struggling with every fiber in her body to fight him off.

OUTSIDE MARK'S PLACE

In the mean time, outside, the police have arrived with Sandy and Kirsten and Summer behind them. Debbie and Tracey explain the whole story to the cops and Sandy. The police walk up to the front door and knock on it. .

"Police! Open up." One of the officers shouts out.

Julie and Caleb arrive just as the police bang on the door.

"What is going on?" Julie demands to no one in particular. "Where's my daughter?" She looks very distraught.

Seth quickly runs to the door and unlocks it from the inside. As the cops enter he points to the staircase indicating the way Ryan went, and where he has just heard shouting coming from. They run up, with Seth behind them.

"No. Wait down here, kid." The one officer says to Seth as he stops him. Seth mopes back to the doorway.

Ryan is still pounding on the door when the cops run up behind him.

"Stand back, son." The one officer says to Ryan. They both kick the door and it flies open, half falling off its hinges.

Inside, Marissa is gagged and lying on the bed, with Mark on top of her. Ryan runs in and with every ounce of strength inside of him he violently and ruthlessly pushes Mark off so hard that he falls over the side of the bed.

Ryan goes around and full-force punches Mark square in the face. Mark collapses as a heap on the floor. Ryan jumps on him and begins punching him repeatedly. It takes two police officers to pull Ryan off.

By this time the others have heard the noise from downstairs and have rushed up to see what was happening.

As Ryan is beating the living hell out of Mark, Summer attends to Marissa who is looking from top to bottom pale and is crying uncontrollably.

The police place Mark under arrest and cuff him. As they take him away he looks back once at Ryan and for the last time at Marissa.

Ryan comes alongside Marissa to help her downstairs. As they get outside, Julie runs up to her and the two of them lock in an embrace. Marissa and Julie may not get on very well, but one thing is undeniable, and that is Julie's motherly love for her daughter.

An investigating officer comes up to Julie and Marissa. "We're going to need a full statement from you, ma'am." Julie gives him a very unimpressed look, and rightly so. "Tomorrow will be fine." The officers backs off a bit. Marissa just nods at him.

"You okay, sweetie?" Julie asks Marissa. Summer comes up next to them.

"Coop... You sure keep it interesting." Summer says half-smiling, trying to make light of the ordeal. Marissa smiles back weakly.

"Can we just go home?" Marissa asks her mom.

As they're leaving, Ryan walks up to Marissa.

"Thank you." Marissa says very tired. "If you had not come in when you did..."

"Don't mention it." Ryan says. He smiles at her and the two of them lock in a hug. Tracey is standing off in the distance, seeing them hugging.

Julie comes up to them. "Sweetie, you need to get your rest." Julie says and then turns to Ryan. He braces himself for a typical Julie tongue-lashing. "Ryan..." Julie starts. "Thank you. I..." She looks at Marissa, "WE are very grateful."

Ryan just looks at her and nods in acceptable of her gratitude. Julie, Marissa and Caleb get in their car and drive back home.

Ryan sits down on a low wall outside the premises. He is physically and emotionally drained.

"You okay, man?" Seth asks Ryan as he walks up to him.

"Yeah... Where's Mark?" Ryan says expressionlessly.

"Probably spending his next 20 years in a state penitentiary." Sandy replies as he walks up to the two guys.

Summer is sitting alone on the same wall, a little further up.

Seth and Ryan see her sitting there looking very upset and dejected.

"You should go..." Ryan says to Seth.

"Don't have to tell me twice." And Seth goes over to her to comfort her, but before he can say a word, Summer speaks.

"Just hold me." Summer says and Seth hugs her tightly. "This is so messed up." They stand in an embrace for what seems like hours.

"We're gonna need a statement from all of you." The investigating officer says to Ryan who is standing alongside Sandy and Kirsten now.

"Now, tell me a bit about this Mark guy. He got a last name? Does he have parents? Is he here alone?" The investigator asks Ryan, who tries to answer as best as possible.

About half an hour later, after all the questions have been answered, and the police have left, Ryan and Tracey, Summer and Seth, Kirsten and Sandy and Debbie are left behind.

"So..." Sandy says. "Anyone up for pizza?"

The rest just all laugh amusingly at him and Kirsten play-smacks him on the shoulder.

Ryan, Tracey, Seth, Summer and Debbie get in to Kirsten car; Ryan and Tracey upfront this time; Seth in the back between the two ladies.

Sandy and Kirsten get in their vehicle.

As they're about to get in to their cars, Sandy turns to Ryan, "Race you back. Last one makes the pizzas!"

"Oh you are so on." Ryan says and they jump in to their cars. Sandy immediately takes the lead.


	9. The Cover Up

**CHAPTER 9: THE COVER UP**

NEWPORT GROUP OFFICES

It's a week later, Monday morning, 9am, and its Kirsten's first day on the job as CEO of the Newport Group. It's also Julie's first day as second in charge. Kirsten has moved in to Caleb's office and Julie has taken Kirsten's old office.

Kirsten has already started going through all the paper work and financial records of the company. Her first point of concern is to restructure the board of directors and of course to appoint a new Interior Designer, since that post is now vacant with Julie's promotion.

Julie walks in to Kirsten's office, and sits down on the couch. She has not done a single thing yet. She is simply too excited and ecstatic about her new job.

"Kiki, isn't this great?" Julie says. "You and I... working side by side. Who could have guessed that a year ago we'd not only be related, but also business partners?"

Kirsten looks up at her from her paperwork with raised eyebrows. She puts the papers down.

"Julie, how is Marissa doing?" Kirsten asks out of concern, seeing that Julie is perhaps hiding behind her work.

"She okay," Julie replies. "She's going for counseling sessions at the Rape Crisis Centre. She been for two sessions and the doctor says she's making good progress." Julie gets up and walks over to the window. "But she hasn't wanted to leave the house at all. She hasn't been to school the whole of last week. The doctor says not to push her, but Kiki..." Julie turns around and looks at Kirsten with tears forming in her eyes. "She won't speak to anyone... everyone that comes over to visit she won't see... even Ryan."

Kirsten stands up from her desk and walks over to Julie. "She just needs time. Don't push her."

They kind of just stand there for a minute or two.

"Anyway." Julie says as she walks past Kirsten wiping away a tear. "I need to get to work on the job description for the new Interior Designer."

"Julie." Kirsten calls behind her and Julie stops, but doesn't turn around. "She'll be alright."

Julie doesn't say anything and walks out the office.

AT HARBOR SCHOOL, LUNCH BREAK

Ryan and Seth have just finished the last class of the morning and both meet each other on the way to the food quad. On the way they discuss the morning classes. As the reach the quad, they see Summer, who asks if she can join them. The three of them get some lunch, which consist of Mac and cheese, an apple and some juice. They take a vacant table overlooking the valley.

"So, anyone heard how Marissa's doing?" Summer is the first one to pop the obvious question.

"Nope." Seth responds, and Ryan also shakes his head.

"She doesn't want to see anyone. I've tried to go twice... and call, but she's just not interested." Summer says.

"Yeah... I've also, and nothing." Ryan responds.

"Uhmmm... and Kyle?" Ryan now asks another obvious question, but more so for Seth's sake, who is too chicken to ask.

"What? Why would he go visit?" Summer replies.

Ryan and Seth both look at each other with amusement.

"Kidding!!" Summer says as she notices their looks. "I'm not THAT blonde..." She takes a folk-full of her Mac and cheese. "He's kind of out of the picture..."

Just then Seth's phone rings. He takes it out his pants pocket, looks at confused as he doesn't recognize the number. Ryan takes it from him, looks at it and answers, as he does.

"Hey." Ryan says.

There's a short silence as he listens to the person on the other end.

"Uhmm... I was thinking of going around... seeing how Marissa is... after school today." Ryan responds.

Again a short silence.

"Okay, later then." Ryan says, ends the call and gives the phone back to Seth.

Seth and Summer look at Ryan quizzically who just tries to ignore them, by taking a sip of his apple juice. However, he wisely realizes Seth cannot be ignored... nor Summer for that matter.

"Tracey." He finally says.

"Ahh." Seth and Summer reply almost in unison.

They all finish their lunch and head to their next class.

AT THE NICHOL MANSION

Twenty minutes to half an hour after school ended, Ryan cycles up the Nichol driveway. It's long and steep and Ryan is slightly flushed as he gets there. He leans his bicycle against the wall next to the outside entranceway and walks up the three stairs leading to the front door. The front door is a solid, white double door, with bronze handles.

Ryan rings the door bell. There is a long wait and no one seems to be home.

Ryan rings the bell again. Eventually the maid opens up. She's Hispanic, just like all other maids in rich people's homes for some reason.

"Can I help you?" The maid says.

"Is Marissa in?" Ryan asks.

"You, but I'm afraid it will not be possible for you to see her. Marissa doesn't want to talk to anyone right now. You'll have to leave." And the maid attempts to close the door.

Ryan puts his hand out to stop it and she opens it again, not impressed.

"I won't be long... just for a few minutes." Ryan insists.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot." And with that the maid closes the door.

Ryan turns to leave, and sees Summer pulling up in her SUV. He stops and waits for her.

"Hey." Summer greets as she gets out the car and closes the door.

"Hey. Good luck getting in." Ryan replies.

"Don't need luck when you've got a key." Summer replies and holds up the front door key to the Nichol mansion. "You coming?"

Summer and Ryan enter the house after she unlocks the door. They both climb the stairs, Summer first, then Ryan. They come to Marissa's bedroom and find the door wide open, but Marissa fast asleep on the bed.

"She's not been able to sleep with the door closed for nearly two weeks. She flips out whenever they close it." Summer explains to Ryan.

Summer and Ryan approach gently. They can see she is fast asleep. It looks like she's cried herself to sleep as her eyes are very puffed up.

Ryan stands there and just stares at her for a while. His heart breaks as he thinks back on that terrible evening after the concert.

"Maybe we need to let her sleep." Summer eventually says.

Summer and Ryan turn to leave. As they're leaving, Marissa mumbles something that they cannot make out, and then turns over on to her back and slow her eyes flutter open. Ryan and Summer turn around.

"Hey Coop." Summer says gently. Marissa doesn't reply. "Someone's here to see you." And Summer gestures Ryan back in.

"Hey." Ryan says softly. "How you?"

Marissa again does not respond.

"Can I get you anything, Coop? Water? ... Froyo?" Summer enquires, but Marissa just shakes her head.

They stand there in silence for a while, no one knowing what to say. Marissa stares up at the ceiling, looking completely out of it and dazed. Summer cannot take it to see her friend like this and she starts tearing up.

"Uhmm... I'm gonna... bathroom." Summer quickly leaves. She certainly does not want Marissa to see her cry.

Ryan approaches the bed and sits down gently on the edge.

"So,... school's..." Ryan says trying to say something to initiate conversation.

Marissa looks at him and a weak smile comes across her face.

"You know I'll always be here for you, right?" Ryan says after a while and gives his usual half-smile back at Marissa.

They sit there for a while in silence, but not an awkward or uneasy silence. They are clearly enjoying each others' company. It brings back memories of better times when the two of them would just sit for hours and stare in to each others' eyes, not saying a word, yet still knowing what the other is thinking.

As they're sitting there, Ryan's phone rings. (Seth had given it to him to take with just before they parted ways at Harbor.) He pulls it out his pocket and recognizes the number. He flips the phone open.

"Hi." He says and stands up and turns around. He listens for a while and then says,

"Ok, see you later then." Ryan closes the phone and puts it back in his pocket. He turns back around to Marissa, but she has turned over. She has heard Ryan talking to Tracey and it has upset her.

"Uhmm... so..." Ryan says trying to reinvent conversation.

"I'm tired... please leave. I want to sleep." Marissa says coldly.

"But, you've been sleeping almost all day... maybe you should get out for a while... I was thinking..." Ryan says and then is cut off.

"I SAID LEAVE." Marissa says vociferously, just as Summer comes in.

"Coop, you okay?" Summer says and gives Ryan an annoyed stare. She walks over to Marissa and pats her on the arm.

"I... I just..." Ryan starts to explain, but quickly realizes it's hopeless. Marissa is very fragile at the moment. Anything can, and very often does, upset her. It's not that she doesn't want her friends and loved ones around, it's just that she's got so much going on and so much to work through, she doesn't know where to start. And for that matter, she doesn't even know who she can trust anyone.

"Maybe you should leave." Summer says to him.

"I'm just tired." Marissa says as she turns back over and looks at the both of them.

"Okay, Coop. I'll come visit again tomorrow." Summer says.

"Okay. Thanks for coming," Marissa says mostly just to be polite. She really did not want to see anyone any time soon.

Summer and Ryan turn to leave.

AT THE COHEN'S PLACE

Monday afternoon finds Sandy in his study making some calls and setting up some court cases. Some of the cases he will settle out of court; most will be in court. This is what Sandy does. He is a defense attorney and mostly does pro-bono work. This is what he enjoys the most – defending those who cannot really afford it.

The doorbell rings and Rosa goes to answer it.

"Good afternoon." A well-dressed businessman greets. "Is Mr Stanford Cohen in by any chance?"

Rosa ushers him in and directs him to Sandy's office.

"Okay, Lillian, if you could fax those over to me within the hour please. Thanks." Sandy ends his conversation as his visitor waits at the door. Sandy gestures him in, and puts the phone down. Sandy is dressed a lot more casually than his guest. He is wearing a pair of black, flannel pants and a white and blue pin-stripe shirt, unbutton, with no tie.

"Hi. Sandy Cohen." Sandy says and stretches out his hand.

"Afternoon. John Hammond." The gentleman introduces himself as he shakes Sandy's hand.

"Please, Mr Hammond, take a seat." Sandy gestures to the guest seats in front of his desk. As Mr Hammond sits down, Sandy also takes his seat at his desk.

"Please, call me John." The visitor replies.

"Okay, John. Would you like some coffee? Muffin?" Sandy offers.

"No, I'm fine thanks." John says and Sandy nods at Rosa that she can go.

"So, how can I help you?" Sandy asks.

"I am terribly sorry to be a nuisance, I know I should have probably made an appointment first, but I really need to see you, as I've heard you're the best in your field." John explains.

"No, not necessary." Sandy says to him. "You are right about the 'best in the field' though." Sandy says jokingly.

"I need to make use of your services. You will be paid handsomely, I assure you." John attempts to make an offer and not catching on to Sandy's humor.

"Why don't you explain to me first what you'd like me to do?" Sandy says getting more serious now and sits back in his chair.

"I need your services as a defense lawyer." John explains. Sandy looks at him intriguingly, as John continues to explain his visit.

"I need you to defend my son. Last weekend, my wife and I were away on holiday to the Grand Canyon. It was our twentieth wedding anniversary. However, we had to cut our vacation short, after a phone call from the local law enforcement informed us that our son was arrested and accused of attempted rape and aggressive assault."

Sandy sits forward in his chair, places his elbows and hands crossed on the desk and looks at his guest in total bewilderment at what he is hearing. He can see where this is going. John continues.

"It is clearly a mistake and, at best, he must have been framed, as he does not know anyone in this county. He recently has made friends with the neighbor's daughter and they seem to be getting on very well; he battles to make friends easily, so my wife and I have been very happy about this.

"My family and I moved out here only three weeks ago when I got a job promotion in an international import and export company. The national head office is here in Orange County, so this necessitated the move. My son was not too happy with the move, but we really never had much of a choice.

"We are a simple family, Mr Cohen. My wife is very involved in the church, and so is my son; he's been going since first grade. My wife is the treasurer and my son is on the youth team committee. So, you see, he cannot be the suspect they are looking for."

As John comes to an end, Sandy rocks back in his chair. He sits in silence for a moment.

"You son's name wouldn't by chance be 'Mark' would it?" Sandy asks the question he's been thinking about the whole time.

"Why, yes." John replies, very surprised and confused at the same time. He shuffles in his chair. "Mark James Hammond. How did you know?"

Sandy takes a deep breath and sighs heavily. He stands up and walks over to the other side of his desk. "You're a golfing man, John?" Sandy asks and gestures towards the door.

"I've played a little with the bosses on potential clients recently, why? What's going on?" John says now totally confused. He gets up and turns to exit Sandy's study.

"We've got some talking to do." Sandy says and follows John out the study. "And I hope you have your afternoon free."

MEANWHILE AT KIRSTEN'S OFFICE

Kirsten had just got back from lunch with Julie. They had gone out and spoken about everything from Marissa to the appointment of a new Interior Designer, and even the next party they plan on having. Well, it was mostly Julie doing all the talking and Kirsten doing all the listening.

As Kirsten walks in to her office she sees a familiar face waiting for her.

"Mr Rutherford." Kirsten says surprised to see their biggest investor in her office. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" Kirsten says.

"Good afternoon Kirsten. You're looking as lovely as ever." Arthur compliments her.

"Thank you. What can I do for you?" Kirsten says

"Maybe you should sit down, Kirsten." Mr Rutherford suggests and Kirsten sits down on a single couch opposite him.

"This is not a business call." Arthur Rutherford explains. "This visit is more of a personal nature."

Kirsten looks at him slightly shocked, yet concerned at the same time.

Arthur continues. "It has to do with my nephew of whom, I believe, you and your family already have met, albeit in somewhat surly circumstances."

Kirsten shifts in her seat. "Mr Rutherford, I'm drawing a blank here..."

"Mark..." Arthur blurts out. "Mark Hammond is my nephew. His mother is my sister."

Kirsten's look of shock and concern turns to unbelief and bewilderment.

"I feel it my duty, out of concern for both your sake, and Mark's and as a friend to share some information I know with you." Arthur says.

He takes a deep sigh and continues.

"Mark suffers from an acute form of Teenage Schizophrenia brought on by highly stressful situations. His alternative persona is prone to short temperedness and very often violence. The doctors have said he will eventually grow out of it, but at the moment the best that can be done is to treat the symptoms. He has been stable now for close on ten months. I suspect their recent move is what set this one off.

"The Hammonds have moved at least four to five times in the last three years and this has put indescribable pressure on Mark as he has been unable to settle down and make any close friends." Arthur stops and pours himself a glass of water from the table in the middle. Kirsten sits there still shell-shocked at this news.

"Their recent move was as a result of a... incident... where Mark was accused of raping his then present girlfriend. The case was eventually thrown out of court, as the witness refused to come forward and testify against him out of fear for her life. As a result, the state could not force Mark in to an institute. His doctors have recommended on numerous occasions that the best for Mark would be to have him institutionalized for a period of time, but his parents will have none of it. I suggested that perhaps a change in scenery and the sea air would do Mark well, and arranged for John, Mark's father, to manage my international import and export business here in Newport." Arthur stops and takes a sip of his water.

Kirsten, now completely baffled and shocked at the news speaks up. "But, why would you feel to tell me this? Shouldn't you be speaking to his parents? And Julie? She should hear this."

"His parents do know. However, they are not prepared to face up to it. It is easier to ignore it and hope it goes away. Sad to say, they are more concerned about their social stature in the community and the church, than the well-being of their son. Furthermore Mark and his parents do not get on at all." Arthur says.

"But what teenager does get on with their parents?" Kirsten reasons.

"Not in that way. They have never seen eye to eye. They will not listen to him when he has anything to say. They say they love him and in the public eye they are most definitely the model family, but behind the façade, their home-life is very different. He has no privacy – they don't allow him to even bath with the door closed. There is no relationship growth at all.

"I have assumed something of a father/friend role for Mark. He finds it easy to talk to me about almost everything. I know about his relationship with Marissa and also with your sons. This is why I felt it necessary to share this with you." Arthur says.

"But I still feel Julie should know." Kirsten says. "I'll just get her in here quick. It won't be easy for her to hear, but it is important." Kirsten stands up.

"Before you do that, there is one other thing..." Arthur says as he also gets up. "And this is the main reason for my visit."

"What's that?" Kirsten asks.

"Do you know if Marissa has been for a blood test?" Arthur asks.

"No, I'm not sure. Why?" Kirsten says very confused.

"What I'm about to tell you is strictly confidential. I assume you'll tell you husband and Julie, which is fine, but further than that it cannot get out... and it cannot get out that I was the one who told you. His parents know, but are not prepared to accept it. They keep saying the tests are incorrect, even though he has been to three different specialists. If ever they are confronted, they down-play it."

Kirsten looks at him with a look that says, 'just tell me.'

"Mark went for a blood test three months ago." Arthur stops, looks at the floor, and then up at Kirsten again. He sighs deeply and then says, "The tests returned positive... Mark... Mark has HIV." And as he said that, Julie walked in.

THE FOLLOWING MORNING, COHEN'S KITCHEN

The previous evening, Kirsten told Sandy about the visit she received from Arthur Rutherford, who interestingly turns out to be Mark's uncle.

Sandy in turn told Kirsten about the interesting visit he received from John Hammond, Mark's father, and how he had been requested to defend Mark.

Sandy and Kirsten decided it best to inform Seth and Ryan of what had happened, and that evening had sat down with them and told them everything. Needless to say, Ryan was even angrier than before and did not believe the whole 'Teenage Schizophrenia' angle.

The following morning everyone is in something of a sobering mood. Ryan and Seth are sitting at the kitchen counter munching on breakfast with a glass of orange juice each.

Kirsten and Sandy come downstairs and enter the kitchen.

"Sandy, you cannot seriously consider defending him?" Kirsten said as she walked in to the Kirsten, with her husband close behind. She walks over to the counter and pours herself a cup of coffee. "'Cause you do know there is a conflict of interest here."

"Dad, you gonna defend him?" Seth asks slightly shocked and Ryan looks up at Sandy with a look of 'you're not serious'.

Sandy butters himself a bagel. "I'm not saying I'm going to defend him. Although it will be interesting... A Christian needing a Jew to come to his rescue... interesting props... and won't be the first time either."

They all look at him again with a sarcasm written all over their faces.

"I'm just saying that consideration for what is best for Mark and everyone else needs to be made, because by the sounds of it, his parents are not doing that. I know I cannot get directly involved here..." Sandy stops and looks at Ryan... "I've arranged lunch with him this afternoon... I'll refer him to a colleague of mine."

"Good. And Julie's taking Marissa down to the doctor first thing this morning to have a blood test done." Kirsten announces. "I think I should go with... offer some moral support."

"Ryan, are you going to try seeing Marissa again today?" Seth turns to his friend and asks.

"Yeah... she's gonna need you now more than ever." Kirsten says to him.

"Maybe, I dunno. She seems to just want some space..." Ryan says. "... and Tracey... a little mad at me right now."

"Ah, yes. The love triangle." Seth says mockingly. "It weaves its tangled web of immeasurable pain and untold deceit, tightening its grip with even increasing cruelty, until all life, love and hope has been constricted out of its victim..."

Ryan looks over at Seth with a look of total dismay. "You're getting weirder by the day."

"Anyway, I've got to get going if I'm going to catch up with Julie and Marissa before she leaves for the doctor's, and you boys need to get going before you're late for school." Kirsten says as she puts her empty coffee cup in the basin.

"I'll take them." Sandy offers.

Ryan and Seth finish off their breakfast and put their bowls away in the basin. They grab their bags and head out with Sandy.

AT THE RAPE CRISIS CENTRE

It's 9am and Julie, Kirsten and Marissa sit in the waiting room of the Rape Crisis Centre, where Marissa has an appointment for a blood test. Kirsten's advice to Julie was that she not tell Marissa that Mark is HIV positive until the results of the test, as this could just upset her even more, and that is the very last thing Marissa needed right now. Julie had just said that the blood test was a formality for victims of rape or attempted rape and that the doctor had insisted it get done as soon as possible.

Marissa sat there looking completely bored and not all too impressed. Around the waiting room sat three other girls, probably ranging in age from 12, 15 and 25. The oldest looking girl, looked quite beat up with a blue eye and a nasty bruise on her cheek. She was sitting alone. The other two younger looking girls were sitting there with their mothers, one looking very upset and crying constantly, the other half asleep on her mom's lap.

"Kirsten. I'm glad you came with. I don't think we'd be able to do this by ourselves." Julie thanks Kirsten, and also on Marissa's behalf.

"It's not a problem." Kirsten says.

Just then a nurse walks in to the wait room. "Ms Cooper?" The nurse calls.

Julie indicates their party.

"You may come through," the nurse announces. "Third door on the left."

Marissa and Julie get up.

"I'll just wait here." Kirsten says.

Marissa and Julie walk through to room number 3. Inside the doctor is sitting behind her desk. She is roughly 35 years old and is donned in a white overcoat.

"Good morning. Please take a seat. I'm Doctor Sarah Finnley... you may call me Sarah." The doctor greets the visitors warmly as they enter. "How are you doing today?"

"Okay." Marissa replies. She is clearly not happy to be there and is not hiding the fact either.

"This will only take a few minutes of your time. It is a formality for victims of rape." The doctor takes out a needle from her desk draw, and breaks open the sealed packaging.

"I don't get why I need this test, I wasn't raped." Marissa said firmly and coldly.

"Marissa, we spoke about this in the car on the way over. Just let Doctor Finnley do her job." Julie says embarrassed. She turns to the doctor. "I'm sorry about that doctor... she's..."

"That's okay. Not many of my patients are ever happy to see me." Sarah says with a smile. "However, it's government regulations."

"If you can just roll up your sleeve for me please." The doctor asks as she walks around to the chair Marissa is sitting on.

Marissa does as requested and the doctor, as gently as possible, inserts the needle in to Marissa's vein. The tube fills up quickly with blood. Once the tube is full, the doctor removes the need and puts a piece of cotton wool on the wound to stop the bleeding, and tapes it down with a band aid.

"That's it." The doctor announces. "We'll have the results for you in about two to three hours; we'll give you a call once we have confirmed a definite outcome. Should the results come back positive we will immediately arrange for a support consultant to be assigned to you."

"Thank you, doctor." Julie says and they get up to leave.

Kirsten meets them at the entrance. "So, what's the verdict?"

"3 hours we'll know." Marissa replies.

"Then, let's go get some breakfast. I haven't had McMuffins in ages, and I'm starved."

TENNIS CLUB

That afternoon Sandy met with John Hammond, Mark's father, to discuss his request for a defense over lunch.

Sandy arrived and found John already seated at a table on the pool side sipping on a martini. He was not all together very impressed with John at this stage. He had done some background checks that morning on what Arthur had told Kirsten and found it to be all true. He walked over to the table.

"Afternoon." Sandy greets very business-like and pulls up a seat.

As he sits down, the waitress, dressed in a blue and white shirt and a white tennis skirt, comes over to take their orders. She hands them a menu each and gives them a minute to decide.

"I'll have a martini and a club sandwich." Sandy orders and hands the menu back to the waitress.

"A cheese bagel and a fruit cocktail will be great, thanks." John places his order and also hands the menu back.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet me this afternoon." John says. "I felt after our discussion yesterday, this would be a good follow up and a chance to decide on a defense and course of action to take."

Sandy looks at John with an unimpressed look on his face. "Let's just get right down to it, shall we?" Sandy says.

"Okay, what's on your mind?" John replies, sensing Sandy is not as supportive as he was yesterday.

"Why didn't you tell me about your son's problem... or should I say problems?" Sandy says.

John is a little taken a-back. "I... I'm not too sure what you're getting at." John says with mock confusion.

"Please don't take me for a fool Mr. Hammond. I know... and so does my wife and kids, and by the end of the day, so will Marissa." Sandy says. "You cannot keep this a secret for ever."

Just then their orders arrive.

John sits back and sips on his cocktail. He takes a deep sigh. "So, I take it my lying brother-in-law came around to see you." He finally says.

"He had a meeting with my wife yesterday. But that's beside the point. If what he said was all fabrication, then why do all the reports and paper work confirm it? I had it all checked out this morning." Sandy responds.

"I didn't see the relevance it in?" John says trying to defend himself now.

"The RELEVANCE, is that this is the only defense your son has and could be the only thing keeping him out of a maximum security facility." Sandy says fervently.

"The TRUTH, Mr Cohen, is what will be my son's defense, not a couple in incompetent doctors' unsubstantiated opinions." John says now getting angry.

"The TRUTH is that he attempted to rape the daughter of a very close friend of mine. Do you know that if found guilty of rape while knowing full-well you HIV positive, can be punishable by the death sentence in some states?" Sandy says to him incessantly.

John sits there with a look of anger and defeat on his face. Sandy continues.

"Your unwillingness to accept this truth is killing your son. If you love him, you will get him some help." Sandy says. He hands him a business card. "This is the number of a colleague of mine who will be able to help you. He's a trained counselor and legal advisor."

"You CANNOT TELL ME WHAT TO DO WITH MY SON." John says to Sandy almost shouting.

"No, but I can get a judge to declare you and your wife incompetent as parents on the grounds that you are not getting your son the necessary help and medication needed in his condition." Sandy says not backing down.

"Put your ego aside, John, or you will loose more than your pride... you will loose your family... you will loose your son." Sandy says.

With that, Sandy takes his napkin off and puts it down on the table. Throwing a few dollars down to cover the cost of the meal, he gets up and leaves; leaving John sitting there to contemplate all that has been said.

THE POOLHOUSE

It's late afternoon, and Ryan is lying on his back, on his bed looking up at the ceiling. Tracey was supposed to come over, but he cancelled with her giving her the reason that he needed to get an assignment completed by tomorrow. She was obviously not very happy with him as it was, and this didn't make things any easier. However, despite the fact that he really did have an assignment due the next day, his mind was not on that, or Tracey and her annoyance towards him right now,... it was on Marissa. He has heard nothing since she went for the test that morning and he's been getting more and more fidgety and irritable.

Seth enters the poolhouse.

"Hey buddy. What's up?" Seth says as he picks up the golf putter leaning against the wall and play-hits an air-ball.

"Heard anything from Marissa?" Ryan says to Seth.

"No, nothing. I was hoping she may have told you." Seth says and again swings the putter. "Maybe you should go around and see her."

Ryan sits up and Seth leans the putter up against the wall again and sits down on the couch.

"No, she's not very up to seeing me lately." Ryan says.

Outside the poolhouse, Marissa stands and stares at the handle. It's been over seven months since she's been in there and she's even wondering what she is doing there now. After she received the news this morning, she had to get out the house. Being cooped up inside all day for a week was taking it's toll, and besides it was the doctor's suggestion that she spends time with friends to get her mind off her problems. Summer was not at home and the only person she could think of was Ryan. But what if he wasn't interested in seeing her? What if he's with Tracey? All these thoughts are overwhelming and Marissa turns to leave. And then stops and turns back again to the poolhouse. She finally plucks up enough courage and pulls on the handle.

Back inside the poolhouse, Ryan has decided to try and see Marissa anyway. She may not want to see him, but he wanted to see her. He had to know.

Suddenly the door opens, tentatively, and there she stands. She is dressed in a blue, sleeveless dress with white poker-dots that ends just below the knee. She has black, flat shoes on and a handbag over her shoulder. Both Seth and Ryan stand up, shocked to see her there; both speechless.

"Oh... Uhmm... I hope this isn't a bad time." Marissa says softly and shyly trying to read the look of shock on their faces.

"No, no, not at all, please. Sit." Ryan says. The three of them just stand here though... all slightly unsure what to do and feeling a bit awkward.

"So... how you're feeling?" Ryan finally breaks the silence.

"Good." Marissa responds.

"Good." Ryan replies quickly and Seth just looks timidly at the both of them.

"Good. So I can see you two have a lot to talk about, so I'll just go and... peel potatoes or something." Seth replies and then quickly leaves the poolhouse. He enters the kitchen from the backdoor and finds his mom and dad in the kitchen.

"You may have to set another place for supper." Seth says.

"Oh, thanks sweetie, but I figured Tracey was probably going to stay for supper again tonight anyway." Kirsten says.

"Not Tracey... Marissa." Seth corrects her. Sandy and Kirsten just look at each other. "Yes, that is right. The triangle manifests again." Seth says and leaves the room. Sandy hugs Kirsten from behind.

Back in the poolhouse, Ryan and Marissa are sitting on the bed.

"So... how's school?" Marissa says.

"Not as fun without you there... Seth keeps it interesting, but can get a bit over the top at times." Ryan says with a smile.

"How was the doctor?" Ryan returns a question.

"Not as fun without you there." Marissa replies with a smile. It's the first time she's genuinely smiled for quite some time at Ryan, and actually felt relaxed in his presence.

"And the result?" Ryan asks, wanting to know.

"Oh that." Marissa says. "I have some good news and some bad news."

"Give me the bad news first." Ryan says bracing himself for the worst.

Marissa is quiet for a while and then finally says. "Okay... The doctor said that I am going to die."

Ryan sits there, shocked. He was prepared for the worst, but not like that.

Marissa looks at him again and has a broad grin on her face. "But not from AIDS, and not for another 70 years. She says I'm as healthy as they come!"

Ryan looks at Marissa and also smiles broadly. He play pushes her back on the bed and the two of them play-tackle each other like they used to over a year ago.


	10. The Thanksgiving

**CHAPTER 10: THE THANKSGIVING**

It's Thanksgiving Day and the Cohen kitchen is abuzz with activity. Everyone is planning and doing their bit for the annual Thanksgiving Day supper. Kirsten as usual was not allowed to have anything to do in the kitchen. Sandy was grilling the meat, while Ryan and Seth were preparing the potatoes, vegetables and desserts.

This Thanksgiving Day promised to be a real interesting one as the Nana had decided to visit. Although Thanksgiving was not traditionally a holiday celebrated by Jews per se, she had thought that spending time with the family may not be such a bad idea. The chemo treatment was going well, and the doctors had said that the cancer had almost gone completely in to remission.

"What time is your mom arriving?" Kirsten asks Sandy as she walks outside to where he is barbequing.

Sandy looks at his watch. "...In about half an hour." He answers. "And she's staying for a couple of days."

"She's what?" Kirsten says in shock.

"It's just for a few days, honey. She wants to spend time with her family. She won't be available for Passover and wants to make every opportunity to have quality with us." Sandy clarifies.

Kirsten just gives him a look and he realizes that this reasoning is not going to fly with his wife.

"Okay, so she's here to do a bit more spying..." Sandy finally confesses as he turns the meat over.

"Are you not going to fetch her from the airport?" Kirsten asks.

"No, she insisted on taking a cab... says leather makes her itch." Sandy responds.

Kirsten turns around and heads back in to the house.

"Where you going?" Sandy enquires.

"...To make sure there is no expense linen on the beds and to put away the fine china." Kirsten says sarcastically.

In the kitchen, Seth is chopping up carrots and eating half of them at the same time. Ryan is preparing the salads.

"You going around to see your brother today?" Seth asks Ryan.

"No, I... I don't think so." Ryan responds.

"Any idea when he gets out?" Seth asks another question.

"Should be soon... like in a few months or so." Ryan replies. "Hey, is Summer coming over?" Ryan asks getting the attention off himself.

"No. Her mom's here for the holidays, so she's having supper with her." Seth responds.

"Oh, you know, you could ask Anna." Ryan teases, remembering Seth's experiences last year with Summer and Anna.

"That's... very hilarious of you, Ryan." Seth responds sarcastically. "But this year, I plan on having a pain-free Thanksgiving." Seth says while rubbing his side; he remembering last year's escapades.

"Well, I'm planning on having an angst-free Thanksgiving this year." Ryan says.

"If Tracey's coming over and Marissa's gonna be here..." Seth says realizing that Julie, Caleb and Marissa had been invited too.

"No, no Tracey. She's gone home to spend Thanksgiving with her sister." Ryan explained.

"Ryan Atwood chickless... this really is going to be a memorable celebration." Seth replied.

Just then they hear the voice they've all been waiting for...

"Hello? Anyone in here?" The Nana announces her presence. "I'm here!" The front door was open as usual.

Sandy comes walking in from the back, Kirsten meets him at the bottom on the stairs, and together they greet the Nana.

"Hello ma." Sandy says and kisses her on the cheek. "Can I take your bags?"

"It's not necessary, I'm not dying, you know!" The Nana replies in jest. "But you can go pay the driver outside."

Kirsten looks at Sandy who turns around and goes to pay the cabbie.

"Hello Kirsten. How are you, dear?" The Nana asks and hugs Kirsten.

"I'm fine. How are you?" Kirsten replied.

"Good, dear. Thanks for asking." Nana responds.

Seth and Ryan come in from the kitchen.

"Ah, Sethalar, my favorite grandson." Nana says and grabs his face, and then hugs him. "Looking very fine indeed."

"Hi Nana... and also your ONLY grandson." Seth replied.

"If your father would give me more, you would still be my favorite." The Nana says with flattery.

"Wow, thank you for that image." Seth says softly under his breath.

"Ma, you remember Ryan?" Sandy introduces Ryan again as he comes back in from outside.

"Ah, yes. The stray. Nice to see you looking so well and healthy." The Nana says patronizingly.

"Well... I've made the guest room up for you. I'm sure you must be tired from your trip." Kirsten says. "We're going to have supper ready by 7."

"Thanks. I trust you're not doing any of the cooking?" The Nana says slightly concerned and mocking at the same time.

Kirsten says nothing, as Sandy helps his mom up the stairs. Ryan and Seth head back to the kitchen.

AT THE NICHOL MANSION

Marissa and Summer are lying poolside on the sun beds. They are both dressed in bikinis; Summer's red and white, and Marissa's pink and blue.

"You should go." Summer says.

"I dunno Sum... I mean Tracey will probably be there and that... well, will be awkward." Marissa responds.

"Well, you can't lounge around here day." Summer reasons.

"I don't see why not." Marissa retorts. "Besides, I need some alone time... problems free."

"Whatev, Coop, but if I were you, I'd go. Besides, Tracey probably won't even be there... she's got family of her own and only sad people don't spend Thanksgiving with their family." Summer says.

"Why don't you come with then?" Marissa asks Summer.

"Because Coop... I have to spend this evening with my mom and her 'fiancé'. I haven't seen her in like 2 years." Summer says with a sarcastic emphasis on 'fiancé'.

Marissa knew this, but she was just hoping that Summer would still agree to come with. Even though her and Ryan had spoken to each other and were getting on reasonably well as friends, it was still going to be awkward with the whole family there.

Marissa takes a sip of her fruit shake, but says nothing.

OVER AT THE COHEN'S

It's an hour before supper time. Kirsten is preparing the margaritas, Nana is making sure than the turkey does not burn this time and Sandy is roasting the final few cobs of corn.

Seth and Ryan are in the poolhouse. Ryan has just got out the shower and put on a T-shirt and jeans.

The doorbell rings and Kirsten goes to open it.

"Jimmy." Kirsten greets. "Happy Thanksgiving."

"To you too." Jimmy returns the greeting and enters the house.

"How are you doing?" Kirsten asks.

"I'm good. The boathouse is sold and I'm in the process of moving in to my new place. It's really great... And I have a job interview for accounts manager as a local accounting firm on Monday..." Jimmy replies excitedly about his new home and job prospects.

"That's great Jimmy, really. If anyone deserves a bit of happiness it's you." Kirsten replies.

"Thanks... things do seem like they are looking up..." Jimmy says. "Uhmm... is Sandy around? I want to thank him for organizing the job for me."

"He's out back... I've got some finishing touches to do before we eat." Kirsten motions Jimmy to the back door.

"Okay, I'll just go say hi." Jimmy says and heads outside.

About five minutes later, the doorbell rings once more and at the same time Julie and Caleb enter the Cohen home with Marissa lingering behind looking slightly nervous to be there.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Kirsten!" Julie says very happily and hands Kirsten a small pot plant as she comes in from the kitchen to greet the new arrivals.

"Thanks." Kirsten replies politely and takes the plant.

"It's not much, I know, but..." Julie says.

"It's great, thanks Julie." Kirsten says reassuringly.

"Kiki, happy thanksgiving." Caleb says and kisses Kirsten on the cheek.

"Thanks dad. You too." Kirsten replies.

"The company's going well I believe... the news papers are reporting very positive signs about it." Caleb says.

"Oh, Cal... It's Thanksgiving, can you trying and not talk business for one day?" Julie pleads.

"Fair enough." Caleb replies.

"Ah, Cal... Julie." Sandy says as he comes in from the back with Jimmy following behind.

"Sandy." Caleb greets, and Julie nods.

"Happy thanksgiving, Jules." Jimmy greets his ex-wife.

"You to, Jimmy." Julie responds half-heartedly.

"Marissa, hi." Kirsten greets Marissa. "How you doing?"

"I'm good, thanks." Marissa says shyly.

"Hey kiddo." Jimmy greets his daughter and they hug.

"Ryan and Seth are in the poolhouse." Kirsten directs Marissa seeing that she is not quite enjoying being there.

"Thanks, I'll just go... this way...." Marissa goes out through the kitchen. As she enters the kitchen she is greeted by the Nana.

"Hello dear." The Nana says.

"Oh, hi." Marissa says startled, as she did not expect any one in the kitchen.

"How are you?" The Nana enquires.

"I'm great, thanks." Marissa replies.

"Is your friend coming?" The Nana asks. "What's her name.... uhmm..... Summer was it?"

"Oh No, she's not... she's having Thanksgiving with her mom." Marissa explains.

"Oh, ok, that's nice." The Nana replies and turns around to check on the turkey. Marissa heads for the door and then stops and turns around again.

"Uhmm... can I ask you something?" Marissa asks.

"Well, you didn't give me much of chance there did you, dear." The Nana says jokingly, and Marissa feels a bit sheepish. "What's it dear?"

"Do you know if Ryan's girlfriend is coming over?" Marissa finally asks after plucking up enough courage.

"Is this a trick question? I though YOU were his girlfriend." The Nana responded.

Marissa looks down at the floor. "No, we broke up a while ago."

"Strange... because he still talks about you all the time." The Nana says. "In fact, I haven't heard him mention any one else."

Marissa smiles broadly. "Thanks."

"Only a pleasure dear." The Nana says. "Now hurry along, I need to make sure this turkey doesn't burn."

Marissa quickly hurries out to the poolhouse with The Nana's words running over and over in her head. "He talks about you all the time."

She opens the door and enters to find Seth sitting on the bed playing with a tennis ball and Ryan standing by the mirror fixing his hair.

"Hey." Marissa says.

"Hey Amigo." Seth greets with a Mexican accent.

"Hey." Ryan replies and quickly finishes his hair. "Glad you could make it."

The three of them stay and chat for a while until Kirsten calls them in for supper.

AT THE COHEN'S AFTER SUPPER

Thanksgiving dinner went off rather uneventful, which is something of an event in itself for the Cohen's and company. Everyone was grateful that the Nana was around to do most of the cooking, as the turkey was absolutely mouth-wateringly delicious, and as was everything else including the vegetables, potatoes, salads and the corn.

The adults were relaxing in the living room sipping on margaritas. Sandy and Jimmy are talking about Jimmy's new job opportunity. Kirsten and Julie are discussing the next nupsie event, and strangely enough Caleb and the Nana are hitting it off well.

"I've got all this free time on my hands now with not running the Newport Group, I'm considering doing some traveling again... go see the world." Caleb explains to the Nana.

"I know what you mean." The Nana sympathizes with Caleb. "Since the chemo, I've been unable to do too much and also find myself twiddling my thumbs at home."

"It's very frustrating. And now with Julie being second in command at the company, she thus with very little free time of her own, I therefore really don't have a traveling partner." Caleb continues his story.

"Well, I may not be much company..." The Nana hits as she smiles at Caleb.

Ryan, Seth and Marissa had gone to the lounge to play some PS2 games.

"Oh, oh... and that's the game!" Seth yells as he annihilates once of Ryan's ninjas.

"Not so fast buddy." Ryan says and frantically pushes every button on the controller. A few seconds later... "Now, THAT'S the game!" Ryan exclaims as he finishes off Seth's men.

Seth gets up surrendering to defeat and Marissa takes his place. "Match practice is going to do nothing for you..." Marissa says as she takes up the second player's controller.

They start playing and Seth goes to the Kitchen to get a soda. As he closes the fridge, the doorbell rings and he goes over to open it.

"Summer." Seth says surprised as he opens the door. "I thought you..."

"I was, but now I'm not." Summer says abruptly. Seth stands there. "I understand now why I could never see that woman more than once a year!"

"Your mom?" Seth asks.

"Duh. Well, are you going to invite me in or just let me stand out here?" Summer retorts.

Seth opens the door wider to let Summer in. He leads her to the lounge where Marissa and Ryan are.

"Hey Sum." Marissa greets. "Supper finished early with your mom?"

"Hey. Yip... don't wanna go in to it." Summer responds and sits down on a nearby couch.

During the evening, the four of them take turns in playing, but all the while Marissa and Ryan seem to be really getting closer. Summer picks up on this and decides to give them some 'alone' time.

"Uhmm... Cohen, can you help me in the kitchen?" Summer says.

"Summer... I'm about to kill..." Seth says while making some impressive finger movements on his controller.

"NOW, COHEN!" Summer demands and Seth obeys very quickly now. They go to the kitchen.

"What, what's so important that it could not wait till I..." Seth says but is cut off as Summer smacks him on his arm.

"Ouch, what was that for?" He explains.

"You a$$!" Summer says to Seth. "Can you not see it?"

"All I can SEE is you hitting me; bringing back some memories of last thanksgiving." Seth says rather annoyed as he rubs his arm.

"Marissa and Ryan!" Summer says exasperated.

"Ooohhh." Seth says as he sneaks a peek around the corner and sees Ryan and Marissa sitting very close to each other on the couch.

"Let's go up to my room." Seth suggests.

"No, uh uh." Summer says.

"We can't stand in the kitchen the whole evening." Seth reasons.

"Okay, but no funny business or I'll kill you." Summer replies.

They go up to Seth's room. It's the first time Summer has been in his room in months. She looks around and almost nothing has changed. There are framed photos on his desk of the four of them taken earlier that year. She picks up the picture, looks at it and puts it down again. As she turns around she sees Captain Oats on Seth's side table. She picks the toy horse up.

"Princess Sparkles has been missing you." Summer says softly under her breath, but still loud enough for Seth you hear.

"Oh, what's that Captain Oats?" Seth says pretending to hear the horse speak.

"He says he misses Princess Sparkles too." Seth says to Summer.

"Well, he's a horse, not an a$$, he could have called." Summer says and puts Captain Oats down.

"He would have, but he was too confused and upset." Seth replied. Summer turns around and her and Seth just stand in silence for what seems like for ever, but in reality was only about a minute.

"What about us?" Seth asks, deciding this is as good a time as any.

"What about us?" Summer asks.

"You and me, Summer... Captain Oats and Princess Sparkles." Seth says.

"What are you on about, Cohen?" Summer says sort of annoyed. "There is no you and me. I'm just not ready yet."

"Okay, well then when you finally do decide what you want, why don't you let me know too." Seth says angrily and kind of hurt and turns to storm off.

"What do you what from me Cohen?" Summer asks also feeling hurt.

Seth turns around and looks in her eyes. She is teared up. Seth sighs deeply and then says, "You, Summer. All I have EVER wanted is you."

Summer look at Seth, who also now has tears in his eyes. She steps towards him and does something she has never done in a long time. She kisses him.

Downstairs, Marissa and Ryan have finished playing games and are chatting and giggling together like good old friends.

The doorbell rings and Ryan gets up to go answer it.

"Wait here... be right back." Ryan says as he gets up to answer the door.

As he opens the door, he gets a nervous chill.

"Tracey. Hi." Ryan says surprised to see her there.

"Hey babes." Tracey greets and steps forward and kisses him.

AT THE COHEN'S FRONT DOOR

"Hey babes." Tracey greets and steps forward and kisses him.

"Hey." Ryan responds nervously. "I thought you were with your sister tonight?"

"I was, but she felt ill so, I left. Thought I'd come spend the rest of my Thanksgiving with my boyfriend." Tracey says.

"Oh ok, great." Ryan says half-smiling, but really it's not so great he thinks.

They just stand there for a moment. Tracey looks at Ryan; Ryan looks at Tracey. Eventually Tracey speaks up.

"Well, are you going to invite me in or what?" Tracey says with a half-hearted laugh.

"Oh, right. Uhmm... now's not really such a good time... I mean... the Cohen's and Seth..." Ryan says anxiously.

"Why, who've you got hiding back there?" Tracey says and tries to force a peak around the door. "Another girlfriend?" All this she says in jest.

Before Ryan can respond, Marissa comes up behind him.

"Ryan, who's it?" Marissa asks and as she walks up to him, she sees Tracey.

"Oh... uhmm... Hi Tracey." Marissa says surprised.

"Marissa, Hi... How are you doing?" Tracey says rather overly enthusiastic as she pushes past a tense Ryan and gives Marissa a friendly hug. "I heard about the AIDS scare... How totally horrible." Tracey shakes her head as she says this.

"Yeh, but hey it's over now." Marissa replies stoically. "I really want to just get that part of my life behind me."

"I don't blame you. That Mark was a real creep." Tracey responds almost sympathetically.

"Yeh. Well, I've got to be going..." Marissa says, but is cut off.

"No, nonsense. Stay. We can all hang out." Tracey says eagerly. "...if that's okay with you, Ryan." She says turning to Ryan.

"Yeh, sure... I mean, if you want to..." Ryan says very confused now. He turned to Marissa as he said that. They both looked at each other with complete bewilderment written on their faces. Both of them thinking the exact same thing: 'Why was Tracey being so nice about this?"

The threesome walk back to the lounge to play video games; Tracey sits herself down right between Ryan and Marissa.

Back upstairs in Seth's room, things between Seth and Summer are going a whole lot better than with their friends downstairs. They are lying on the bed; Summer on her back diagonally across the bed with Seth resting his head on her stomach. Summer is playing with Seth's hair.

"Cohen... this hair is out of control." Summer teases Seth about his Jew-fro.

"You know what else is out of control?" Seth jumps over and kisses Summer unexpectedly. "Me." She smiles as he finishes up the kiss.

"Let's take it slower this time." Summer comments.

"Whatever you say Summer..." Seth says. "But I don't know for how long you will be able to resist this." Seth pulls in to Summer for another kiss. She kisses him and then pulls back.

"I'm serious, Cohen!" Summer reinforces her stance. "I don't want things to get all messed up again."

"Okay. I totally agree with you." Seth says as he rolls over on to his back.

"Let's go downstairs and see how our friends are doing." Seth says.

"Eww!" Summer responds. "You just want to spy on them making out!"

"You read my mind so well!" Seth replies and gets up. The two of them make their way downstairs.

As the get to the bottom of the staircase and close to the lounge, Summer calls outs: "Okay, we're coming in, hope you two are not making ..." Summer stops as they enter the lounge.

"Oh... Tracey..." Summer says confused as she and Seth enter the lounge.

"Hey guys." Tracey says. "You're hope we're not making what?" Tracey asks intrigued to hear the end of the sentence.

"Uhmmm..." Summer see is stumped now...

"Uhmm... Christmas cards... yeh. We were..." Seth quickly tries to cover for Summer.

"... all gonna make Christmas Cards for the poor orphans in the hospital." Summer quickly picks up the story.

"Yeh, Summer's so excited, she didn't want us to start without her..." Marissa quickly fills in her own bit.

"Well, I think that's an excellent idea you guys." Tracey replies, clearly seeming to have taken the cover-up.

Seth and Summer sit down. Seth squints at Ryan and Summer looks at Marissa with a 'what the hell?' kind of look.

The five of them now continue to play games and chat, but there is a strange awkwardness about the situation.

About an hour later, Julie comes to call Marissa.

"Marissa, honey. Caleb and I are leaving now..." Julie announces.

"Okay, I'll come with you now then." Marissa says and gets up.

"You can stay longer if you want... I don't mind giving you a lift later." Tracey quickly offers.

"No, it's fine... I'm really tired and have a lot to catch up on before school next week." Marissa says. She really wasn't feeling very comfortable with the couples. Tracey, even though she seemed like she cared, had actually alienated Marissa from the others.

Ryan gets up to go see Marissa off, and Tracey follows behind.

"Well, it's been a good evening. Thank you for inviting us." Caleb says to Kirsten and Sandy as they make their way to the door. He turns to the Nana, "Maybe we'll see more of each other before you leave?"

"I'm counting on it." She replies with a smile.

Caleb, Julie and Marissa leave, and Jimmy exits with them too.

As they exchange good-byes at the door, Ryan turns to Tracey. "Thanks for being so understanding..." Ryan's still a bit confused of what to make of all of this.

"It's no problem." Tracey responds. "Marissa needs friends now, and I understand that you and she are friends... This means, me and her are friends too." Tracey smiles. "Besides, it's not like the two of you will ever be together again any time soon."

She kisses Ryan, but he reluctantly returns her kiss with an edgy smile. Something about what Tracey just said did not sit well with Ryan, and he knew what it was...

IN MARISSA'S ROOM

Marissa was lying on her bed staring blankly at the ceiling. Inside she was a pot of mixed emotions. She was happy that finally she and Ryan were back on the map again, but she was also angry that Tracey was still very strongly in the picture, and at the same time she was totally confused by Tracey's reactions. Had Tracey freaked out about her being there with Ryan, as difficult as the situation would have been, she at least would know where everything stood. At the moment, she couldn't figure out if Tracey was being truly genuine in her friendship, or just patronizing and manipulative.

AT THE COHEN'S

Back at the Cohen's place, the Nana was cleaning the kitchen and Sandy and Kirsten has gone to bed straight after Jimmy left.

Ryan, Tracey, Seth and Summer were watching TV, reruns of the Valley, while munching down on popcorn and left-over dessert. Summer and Tracey were having a ball, and in fact so was Seth, but Ryan was feeling very bored and uninterested.

Summer starts crying. "Oh... this is totally the saddest part... He leaves his girlfriend to look after his pregnant ex..." Summer exclaims while wiping her eyes. "I mean, who does that?"

She then realizes what she's just said and darts a quick glance over at Ryan to see if he's heard her... which he has. "Oh, right." Is all Summer can reply.

"Yeh, and then his best friends like runs away..." Seth continues as he tries to hold back tears... Ryan looks over at him with raised eye-brows. Seth quickly puts his head down trying to hide his tears.

Just then the phone rings. Ryan notices none of the other three are interested in anything other than the show, so he gets up to answer it. He takes the extension in the kitchen.

"Hello?" Ryan answers.

"Hey kid, how're you keeping?" A woman's voice on the other end asks.

"Good." Ryan replies surprised.

"It's been a long time." The woman on the other end says.

Ryan and her chat for a few minutes and after a while he puts the phone down and rejoins the others just the Valley comes to an end.

"Oh that was so sad." Summer says drying her tears; Seth's still trying to conceal his emotion.

"So who was on the phone?" Tracey eventually asks.

"My mom." Ryan replies.

"Oh, so, how was that?" Seth asks after having recomposed himself.

"Good... she's good. She's moved to Reno..." Ryan says. "...got herself a steady job."

"That's great for her..." Seth says trying to be encouraging.

"She also says Trey's coming out in a week or so... was granted parole." Ryan continues.

"Hey, that's... that's awesome." Tracey says supportively.

"Yeah." Ryan replies, but not quite sharing in her enthusiasm.

"It is awesome, right?" Seth asks, sensing that perhaps things are not all awesome.

"Yeh, no, it's... its great." Ryan responds, snapping out of his own daze, but not convincingly. He's thinking about something his mom said on the phone that disturbed him.

"So... what did she have to say?" Seth hounds him. "Got her a man?"

"No, nothing... just phoned to catch up." Ryan replies.

"She must have said something, because you don't seem very happy about it." Tracey persists.

"It's not important, let's just enjoy the rest of the evening." Ryan says shrugging off Tracey's interrogation.

"Well, it's getting late anyway... I should get going." Summer says. Seth walks with her to her car.

Ryan sits down on the couch and Tracey sits down right next to him. Tracey turns to Ryan and kisses him. He returns the kiss half-heartedly and Tracey senses that he is preoccupied with other things on his mind. She lifts her head,

"What's wrong, Ryan?" Tracey says kind of annoyed that he is not opening up to her.

"Nothing, really... I'm... just really tired." Ryan replies.

Tracey now clearly annoyed and angered, gets up and grabs her hand bag.

"Tell me what's going on, Ryan... you've been blowing me off lately and when I come over I find you all buddy-buddy with your ex." Tracey says angrily. "And I don't like it! It's either her or me."

Ryan looks at her... "Oh, so what about that 'if she's your friend, she's my friend' speech earlier? That performance may have fooled everyone else, but it didn't fool me. All you did was make Marissa feel like uncomfortable. ...I care for her, and if you can't accept that..."

Tracey's feeling hurt and angry simultaneously. She wipes a tear away. "I'm not going to stand here and pretend like we're going out, when we're not. If you want me, you know my number... until then, have a good life." And with that Tracey leaves. Ryan thinks about stopping her, but he doesn't.


	11. The Housewarming

**CHAPTER 11: THE HOUSEWARMING**

HARBOR SCHOOL

Its now a week later, and in fact last period on Friday afternoon and for Seth and Ryan that just happens to be Physics. For Marissa and Summer, it's Math. It's a sunny, let not unbearably hot afternoon.

The Physics class is half way through and the teacher, Mr. Fillips is rambling on about some chemical reactions. He is a bald-head middle-aged man with a very boring, droning voice.

"Okay, you will now each be assigned lab partners. This will be your partner for the rest of the semester, and the person you will share a work bench with. To avoid any conflicts, I have decided to choose partners for you. When I read your names out, please make the necessary movements." Mr. Fillips says.

"John and Gracey... Andrew and Julie... Duncan and Melinda... Ryan and Vanessa... Wendy and Jonathan, Seth and Caroline..." Mr. Fillips reads out the names and the class change places as required.

Ryan moves to go sit next to Vanessa, and Caroline takes her place next to Seth.

"Seth Cohen." Seth introduces himself.

"I'm glad for you." Caroline replies coldly. She was a pretty blonde-haired, olive-skinned 17 year old. She had striking blue eyes and a really cute button nose. She is wearing a short, light-pink top that ends just able her belly button, which is decorated with a stud in it.

"Okay, well, now that we have the intros out the way..." Seth responds sarcastically, and Caroline sighs annoyingly.

"Look... Let's just both we adults about this... I don't like this arrangement any more than you do. That guy back there..." and she points a guy out in the corner... "is my boyfriend... try anything funny and he'll be all over you like white on rice. My suggestion: we just keep this arrangement strictly professional." Caroline says laying down the law.

"Right." Seth responds uneasily, looking back at the guy in the corner who catches Seth's gaze and shows him his fist hitting in to the palm of his other hand.

Over on the other side of the classroom, Ryan sits down next to Vanessa.

"Hi. I'm Vanessa Walland." Vanessa introduces herself. She is tall, dark-haired with freckles on her face. She is wearing a longish creamy/white dress that ends just below the knee.

"Ryan Atwood." Ryan turns to her and introduces himself.

"Yes, so I've heard." Vanessa says with a smile, which Ryan, out of politeness, returns.

"So, how's the baby?" Vanessa asks just out of the blue.

"Not mine." Ryan replies, but with a look of total bafflement on his face. Vanessa picks up on this and explains.

"Summer and I are on the cheerleading team."

"Ah." Ryan responds knowingly.

Just then the bell rings signaling the end of the class. Mr. Fillips barks off some orders for homework over the weekend.

"See you on Monday, partner." Vanessa says as she packs her books in her bag and gets up to leave.

Ryan just nods, puts his books away and catches up with Seth at the door.

"Your labby as friendly as mine?" Seth says with mockery.

"scaringly so." Ryan replies and the two of them exit the classroom.

SCHOOL HALLWAY, END OF MORNING CLASSES

The bell has rung and Summer and Marissa leave Math class together. Marissa was now back at school. She was making remarkable strides in her counseling sessions and she felt up to it again.

"Wow, skipping two weeks of school really doesn't seem like such a good thing now. I have so much to catch up on." Marissa says to Summer.

"Yeh." Summer responds kind of uninterested.

"I mean... Math alone... I feel like I'm missed a whole year!" Marissa says.

"Ok, Whaev, So, what time's your dad's housewarming tonight?" Summer says brushing off Marissa's sharing about her school problems.

"Sum... you not seriously thinking of going are you?" Marissa says shocked. "There's just gonna be like old people there."

"Thanks why they need some young blood to spice it up a bit. " Summer says, "We've got to be there to make sure they don't get up to anything... bad."

Marissa just laughs at Summer.

"Coop, trust me, the last thing you need right now is to be alone, and this party will help you to get your mind off things and get your life back to normal." Summer persists.

"I don't think life in Newport Beach can ever be just normal." Marissa points out.

Just then they see Seth and Ryan coming around the corner. The two parties walk up to each other and meet in mid-passage.

"Hey Hom's." Seth greets in a mock gangster language.

"Hey." Summer and Marissa greet in unison.

"So..." Ryan says and with a smile at Marissa.

"So... You guys are coming to the Coop party tonight right?" Summer asks.

"Uhmm...?" Ryan says confused. Marissa had not told anyone about the party, as she was not intending on going. She looks over a Ryan with a knowing look that said please just bail me out here.

"Oh, uhmm... yeh, for sure." Ryan responds. "We'll be there."

"We will?" Seth says confused and Ryan quickly jabs him in the side, causing Seth to grab his side and rub it a bit.

"Great! We can all hang out like old-time's sake!" Summer responds. "See you later."

Seth and Summer walk off together and Marissa and Ryan are left there.

"Thanks for playing along." Marissa says gratefully to Ryan.

"No worries... now u just owe me!" Ryan says with a smile and the two of them walk off together.

JIMMY'S NEW HOUSE

It's Friday afternoon and Kirsten is helping Jimmy prepare for the housewarming party that evening.

He purchased a free-standing family home from the proceeds made from the sale of the boathouse. It's a three bed roomed, double-story house with an ocean view. It is painted white on the outside with blue shutters and guttering. The backyard is massive and has a pool and sauna enclosed.

Jimmy had also landed a job as an accounts manager for Wesson and Harrison, a local accounting firm in Newport Beach.

Jimmy is making last minute furniture placements, and Kirsten is doing some decorating with plants and paintings.

"I'm not very good at this interior design thing." Kirsten says as she puts a plant down on a side table and steps back to check it out. "This is more Julie's line."

"Nooo thank you." Jimmy says definitively. "This house is gonna be Julie-free."

After moving the final side-table in to the lounge area, he steps back to admire his handy work. He turns around and bumps straight in to Kirsten, who drops a pot-plant she is carrying in her hand.

"Oh... I am so sorry." Jimmy apologizes profusely.

"No, don't worry about it." Kirsten reassures him, and bends down to tidy up.

"No, leave that. I'll sort that out." Jimmy says and he quickly bends down to, but clumsily bumps heads with Kirsten. They both stand up and rub their heads.

"I'm really sorry..." Jimmy says uneasily.

"It's okay, really." Kirsten responds, still rubbing her head. There's an awkward silence for a moment as the two of them just look at each other.

"Uhmm... I should get these plants finished up." Kirsten says breaking the uneasiness.

"Yeh... I..." Jimmy struggles to get the words out.

Just then the front door opens and in walks Sandy.

"Oh, hey." Sandy says surprised to see Kirsten there. "I just wanted to come around to see if you needed a hand, but it seems you've got it covered."

"Oh, Sandy, hey." Jimmy says quickly. "Kirsten is helping with the arrangements for tonight. Could you give me hand with this... thing outside."

"Hey honey." Kirsten greets.

Sandy follows Jimmy outside and kisses Kirsten on the cheek as he passes her.

Down on the beach, behind the Cohen's place, Ryan and Seth are playing Frisbee on the sand, trying their best to relax after a long grueling week of school.

Seth, unable to hold his curiosity in anymore, pops the question: "So, Ryan, what's up with you and Marissa? You going out? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Or are you just friends? If you're just friends, does that mean you're both going to look for other people to date, or are you going to date on the sly? If you're going to date on the sly, what is the other person finds out? If you're dating, like seriously, are you gonna... you know... 'cause the last time you also... well, you know... and then there's Tracey's web in those whole colony... are you dating? Just being friends? 'Cause that then means a whole new set of questioning, like..."

"Whoa... just whoa!" Ryan stops Seth and grabs the Frisbee.

"Okay, I can give you more time, but you have to have a plan of action you... like, how..." Seth says and is cut off again.

"Marissa and I aren't dating..." Ryan says... "Nor am I dating Tracey..."

"Okay, so you're just gonna be friends. That's interesting... what you going to do together... play tag? Shave your chests?" Seth says sarcastically.

Ryan just looks at Seth trying to suppress his laughter, but he can't. He throws the Frisbee a little harder back at him this time. Seth misses and has to run back to get it. They decide to head back to the house to get ready for the party. They walk up the path leading to the Cohen property, still throwing the Frisbee lightly back and forth.

As the arrive at the house, they are surprised to find Summer and Marissa lying on the sun beds next to the pool. The ladies sit up as they see the guys approach.

"Eww, Cohen, you're like... hot and sweaty." Summer comments, grossed out.

"But Summer... I think someone like's it all hot and sweaty." Seth says jokingly and tries to hug Summer.

"God, Cohen... ewww." She quickly gets up and takes a step back, as she does she pushes Seth and he falls backwards in to the pool. A second or two later he pops up through the surface.

The remaining three just laugh at him.

"I think someone else needs to rinse off." And with that Marissa pushes Ryan in to the pool too.

As he pops his head up through the water, he sees Summer and Marissa standing on the edge of the pool, laughing at them. Seth and Ryan both glance at each other with knowing looks and smirks on their faces. They quickly climb out the pool and chase the girls around the yard. Ryan catches Marissa from behind and Seth grabs Summer in a bear-hug. The four of them jump in to the pool together. They splash around and playfully push each other under the water for a while. After about 20 minutes they climb out and dry off.

"So, what have you guys got for a gift?" Summer asks.

"Gift... for what?" Ryan asks.

"A housewarming gift. Everyone knows you take gifts to housewarming parties. That's why they have them." Summer replies.

"Uhmm... oh." Ryan responds uncertainly.

"Guess we're on a mission... to the mall." Marissa says. "Go get yourself ready... we'll meet you out front." And she throws her towel at Ryan.

THE ARCHES

Caleb sat at the table and tapped his fork on the side of his water glass irritably. He sighed heavily and ordered a scotch. Just then he found whom he was waiting for standing over him, "Nana Cohen! How nice of you to show up."

"I'm sorry Caleb I was held up at the drug store. Customer service just isn't what it used to be." She answered while accepting a kiss on the cheek. "So how've you been Cal?" she asked interested.

"Oh you know the usual. All this time on my hands now, especially not having people like you are calling me everyday asking me to save the trees or the orphans or something equally time consuming." Caleb replied.

"Nice to know we have such a generous man at the head of our community." She replied with a smile. Caleb laughed softly.

"So Sophie what are you having? I think the salmon looks delicious today."

ELSEWHERE IN THE MALL

"So what do you think? A plant, painting, power tool or pocket knife?" Seth asked Ryan as the four of them walked through the mall looking for a decent-enough housewarming gift.

"I dunno..." Ryan replied with a very confused look on his face.

"Coop, you know your dad... what'd he like?" Summer asks Marissa.

"All of the above?" Marissa replies unsurely.

They continue to shop around for a few hours checking out everything from toy stores, art galleries and DYI home improvements.

BACK AT ARCHES

Two hours later Caleb finished off another scotch and he called for the cheque. He helped Sophie pull on her coat and led her to the exit. "Thank you for such a delicious lunch, Caleb." Sophie said happily.

"Oh it was most certainly my pleasure." He answered.

"So Cal how did it make you feel?" she asked searchingly.

"What?"

"Buying a sick old lady lunch purely out of sympathy?"

"Sophie..."

"Caleb," she said while shaking her head, "I know why you bought me lunch. You feel sorry for me. I understand."

"Sophie I took you out simply for the pleasure in your company."

"Oh balls Caleb. When have you ever enjoyed my company?"

"Since I realised how good company is hard to find, especially when you're married to Julie Cooper." Caleb muttered under his breath. Sophie tilted her head to the side and reached up and took his face in her hands, "Thank you." She said softly before placing a kiss on his cheek.

ELSEWHERE IN THE MALL

The quartet emerges from the final shop with four gifts, one each of a painting, a plant, a hand drill and a pocket-knife.

As they leave the shop, they spot Caleb and the Nana, the Nana placing a kiss on Caleb's cheek. Summer notices it first and draws the other's attention to it.

Not at all sure how to react, they just stood there in complete disbelief as Caleb and the Nana walked arm in arm in the opposite direction to them.

Eventually when they're out of site and everyone has recovered just slightly from the shock, Summer breaks the silence.

"So in theory then, Cohen, this could mean that you and Coop..." Summer says.

"Oh, oh, no, please don't say it." Seth says in anguish as he covers his ears.

"Yeh, and your parents could be like..." Marissa says as the three of them are clearly getting a kick out of Seth's pain.

"Oh, man... no. Bad dream, bad dream." Seth holds his hands to his heads and shakes his head.

Summer comes alongside Seth and puts her arm over his shoulder. "It's not that bad Cohen. Two old people finding love... It's kinda sweet."

"Yeh, except he's married to her mom." Seth points back to Marissa who is walking behind them with Ryan.

AT JIMMY'S HOUSEWARMING PARTY

The house is looking absolutely stunning. From the décor to the entrées, everything is just perfect. All the guests have arrived, including Julie and Caleb, and the Nana. The Nana and Caleb have been making eyes at each other the whole evening.

Seth and Summer are standing to one side enjoying some drinks, well Summer is, while Seth is still freaking out about his grandmother and grandfather hooking up. He is looking and feeling quite sick.

"Well, what can I say Jimmy, you've really outdone yourself." Julie walks over to Jimmy who is standing making small talk with some other friends.

He nods once and takes a sip of his wine. "It's mostly thanks to your husband, Jules." Jimmy replies.

Julie now takes a sip of her drink. "He's known for his generosity." Julie says.

"And that's obviously why you married him." Jimmy retorts, and Julie just walks away.

Sandy comes up to Jimmy. "Great party Jimmy." Sandy compliments.

"Thanks. You know it wouldn't have happened if it weren't for your help... you and Kirsten." Jimmy replied politely.

Sandy pats Jimmy on the back and walks away to his wife, who's standing on the other side of the garden near the bar. Kirsten sees him approach and a smile appears across her face.

"Jimmy's got a nice place here." Kirsten says as he approaches.

"It wouldn't be if it weren't for your helping him this afternoon." Sandy says blankly and orders a drink.

"You helped too." Kirsten corrected him.

"Except, he didn't call me for my help, which brings me to the one question I've been trying to figure out for a long time now." Sandy says as he takes his drink from the barman. "Why is it, then whenever your friend Jimmy needs help, you are the very first person he seems to call?"

"Oh Sandy, you know Jimmy and I have been friends since high school. We've shared almost everything with each other." Kirsten replies.

"Even spouses?" Sandy quips.

"No. Not spouses." Kirsten says firmly, and locks eyes with Sandy "You know Jimmy's been through a lot... a lot more than most people go through in a lifetime. He's only now just managing to find his feet again in the community."

Sandy takes a sip of his drink and so does Kirsten. "Jimmy and I are just friends, Sandy. Nothing more. Just friends." Kirsten says with conviction.

Sandy takes a slow sip of his drink and eventually gives in and puts his arm around his wife.

"I know. I suppose I can't blame another man for wanting to spend some extra time with the most gorgeous woman in the country." Sandy says with love in his eyes.

Kirsten laughs at him. "I must say, this jealousy act is rather charming though."

Close to the bar, just a table or two to the left, Seth and Summer are sitting at a table eating lightly on some sandwiches. As the night wore on, Seth's mind changed from being concerned about his grandparents and became more interested in food.

Summer takes the final sandwich from their platter in the middle of the table. As she does a bit of mayo falls on her ring finger. She holds it out to Seth. "Lick it."

Seth looks at her and shakes his head. "Summer, I don't like mayo." Summer just gives him a look and Seth realizes exactly what that look means. He quickly licks her finger clean.

"Thanks. I hate the taste of mayo on its own." Summer replies.

"It wasn't nearly as sweet as you, Summer." Seth says.

Summer laughs at him. "You are so cheesy, Cohen."

Seth smiles back at her and gets up and holds out his hand. "Wanna dance?"

Summer puts the sandwich down and gets up and takes Seth's hand just as the DJ begins to play a slowish song. A few other couples join in on the dance floor.

At a far off table, Marissa is sitting alone. Ryan comes up to her and holds out his hand. "Want to dance?" He asks.

Marissa puts her drink down and takes Ryan's hand. The two of them go and slow-dance on the floor. Marissa looks ravishing in a long, red dress, similar to the one she wore the day Ryan left for Chino again.

"You look lovely tonight." Ryan comments and Marissa smiles at him.

"Thank you. I feel a lot happier than the last time we danced together." Marissa responds.

The two of them dance in good old vintage Ryan and Marissa fashion. They both look to be closely enjoying themselves.

"Would you care to dance?" Caleb walks up to Sophie who is sitting by herself smoking.

"Do I look like the type who can dance?" The Nana responds and puts her cigarette out.

"You're never too old to learn." Caleb says charmingly. The Nana eventually gives in after a few more persuasive words from Caleb and the two of them take to the dance floor.

Jimmy walks over to Julie who is standing by the bar and has just seen Caleb ask the Nana to dance.

"Looks like the Nana and Caleb are becoming quite friendly these days." Jimmy observes.

"Honestly, Jimmy. You read far too much in to situations. He clearly just feels sorry for her." Julie replies, but she doesn't seem too convinced herself.

"Well, he's having a lot of fun for someone who's just feeling sorry." Jimmy replies and walks off.

Julie gulps down the remainder of her drink and walks up to Caleb on the dance floor. "Nana, do you mind?" Julie cuts in on their dance and takes Caleb's hand. The Nana goes and sits down again and lights another cigarette.

"I hope this is not what I think it is." Julie says to Caleb.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Caleb replies sternly to Julie.

Just then Marissa and Ryan dance past them and overhear Caleb denying everything. "Well, Caleb, it didn't look like nothing at the mall this afternoon." Marissa throws the spanner in the works and her and Ryan dance off again. Ryan just smiles at her.

Julie stops dancing, causing Caleb to stop too. "Cal, what is going on?" Julie demands.

"Nothing Jules. Sophie and I were just having lunch." Caleb says uneasily.

"And you'd rather dance with your friends that your wife?" Julie replies angrily. She stops dancing and storms off leaving Caleb standing stranded on the dance floor.

THE END OF THE HOUSEWARMING

An hour later and the party has pretty much come to an end. Most of the guests have left. The Nana is sitting at a table by herself looking very tired and alone. Caleb chased after Julie after she stormed out. Seth and Summer join her at the table.

"Ouww..., my feet are killing me." Summer says and rubs her toes.

"So Nana, enjoy your first Newport party?" Seth asks as he sits down looking very bushed himself.

"No." The Nana replies bluntly.

"Well, join the club." Seth responded.

"Sethalar, let me give you some advice about love." The Nana says and continues despite Seth's protests. "Love does not get any easier, even at my age."

"Well, that is very insightful, thank you." Seth replied somewhat sarcastically.

Marissa and Ryan and Sandy and Kirsten join them at the table.

"You all almost ready to go?" Sandy questions.

"Yeh, except my mom and Caleb have left already..." Marissa starts

"Oh, hey... uhmm.... I can give..." Ryan begins to offer, but then realizes he came with the Cohen's. He turns to Sandy. "... if that's okay...?"

"Hey, yeh, sure. You can take my car and I'll go with Sandy..." Kirsten offers her car and hands Ryan the keys.

"Uhmm... how does he get the keys so easily?" Seth asks slightly sarcastically. He just gets looks back from Sandy and Kirsten.

"Thanks." Ryan says and takes the keys. "We're gonna go." Him and Marissa get up to leave.

"Yeh, I think we'll be leaving too." Sandy says and Kirsten and the Nana get up. "Summer, you need a ride?"

"Uhmm... no, we'll go with Ryan." Seth replies quickly.

"Okay, but don't be too late and Ryan keep an eye on him please." Kirsten responds.

"Oh, oh... what's with that?" Seth responds shrugging his shoulders. Again he just gets looks back.

The group said their good-byes to Jimmy and congratulated him on a well organized party. Sandy, Kirsten and the Nana leave in one vehicle and Ryan, Marissa, Seth and Summer leave in Kirsten's SUV.

First, they go and drop Summer off. Seth helps her out the door by doing his accepted gentleman duty and opening the door of the car for Summer. He then walks her to the door of her place and kisses her good night.

"I had a good time tonight, Summer." Seth says and he strokes back her hair.

"Yeh, me too." Summer responds with a sweet smile.

They kiss once more and Summer goes inside and Seth heads back to the SUV.

"Getting serious there, hey buddy!" Ryan says jokingly as Seth climbs back in.

Seth slumps back in to the seat very tired. He closes his eyes. "Just drive cabbie, just drive."

Ryan starts up the car and they drive off to Marissa's place. Twenty minutes later they get there. Seth is fast asleep in the back.

"So, here we are." Marissa says sheepishly.

"Yeah." Ryan replies. They just sit there for a while.

"Well, ok then." Marissa says and undoes her seatbelt.

"Oh, uhmm, let me ..." Ryan quickly jumps out and open's Marissa's door from the outside. She climbs out, and he walks her to the door.

"Thanks." Marissa says politely.

"Pleasure." Ryan replies.

"... I mean for the ride..." Marissa qualifies herself. "... and the dance."

Ryan smiles at her. The two of them hug, kinda awkwardly.

"Why does this seem so awkward?" Ryan asks.

"I don't know. I mean, it shouldn't, right?" Marissa replies.

"Right." Ryan responds.

"So..." Marissa says and again there's an awkwardness between them. "Good night then."

"Good night." Ryan says.

Marissa unlocks the door. As she turns the key in the hole, Ryan contemplates pulling her around and kissing her. As he decides, Marissa opens the door and walks in.

"Good night." Marissa responds as she enters the house.

"You too." Is all the reply Ryan can get out. They smile at each other and Ryan walks away backwards as Marissa closes the door. He turns and heads back to the car, where Seth has been awake, witnessing everything.

"Getting a little serious, hey buddy!" Seth returns Ryan's banter from earlier. Ryan just playfully backhand's Seth on the side of the head as he gets back in the car.

They drive back to the home.


	12. The Vacation

**CHAPTER 12: THE VACATION**

THE COHEN'S

"Dude, can you maybe add a bit of speed to your movements?" Seth says as he rushes in to the pool house. "We've got to fetch the ladies in twenty minutes and Summer being kept waiting is not a pretty sight."

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." Ryan says as he steps up to the counter above his bed and puts his watch and wristband on.

The group of four, Seth, Summer, Ryan and Marissa were preparing to go away for a couple of days on vacation to Miami. Ryan was a bit apprehensive about this as he was not too sure how things would pan out with him and Marissa. They were not official dating or anything, yet the way they carried on together, you'd swear they were. Seth and Summer were very much an item and Seth made sure everyone knew about it.

Ryan picks up his bags and follows Seth out to the front where the car is idling.

"Dude, this trip is gonna be awesome! You, me, Summer, Marissa and no parents! Just image the stuff we can get up to!" Seth was beside himself with excitement.

Sandy is sitting at the kitchen counter reading the paper and eating a bagel. As Seth and Ryan wiz past him, he puts the paper down and trails behind.

"Now remember what I said..." Sandy begins.

"Yes, yes. Call before we get on the plane, call when we get off the plane, call when we're in the cab, call when we get to the hotel, call when we fall in the lake and call when we get rescued... and if in doubt, just call anyway..." Seth says sarcastically.

"Seth!" Sandy says sternly.

"Father." Seth replies.

"Just be careful." Sandy says reservedly.

Seth piles his luggage in to the back and turns around to Sandy and holds out his palm and waves his figures in an upward motion.

"What?" Sandy asks.

"The credit card, father." Seth replies.

Sandy takes the card out his wallet and hands it to Seth.

Kirsten walks out from inside and stands next to Sandy.

"You sure this is a good idea... letting the kids go off to another state by themselves?" Kirsten asks with concern.

"No." Sandy replies. "But we're got to trust them some day. Why not now?" Kirsten just looks at him anxiously.

"Leave the car at the garages by the airport." Sandy says. "We'll pick it up in the morning."

"Right, all set?" Ryan says as he climbs in the passenger seat.

"All set." Seth says as he climbs behind the wheel.

Suddenly, he remembers something and quickly jumps out and races upstairs to his bedroom. Half a minute later he rushes back down with a plastic horse in one hand, Captain Oates. Ryan just looks at him and shakes his head.

"That's right friend, just zip the lip." Seth responds jokingly before Ryan can say anything. "Captain Oates needs a break too."

They pull out the driveway and wave back to their parents. Sandy waves and then makes a "call me" sign with his hand to his ear.

AT SUMMER'S PLACE

Since Summer's place was en route to the airport, Marissa spent the evening and morning there, so as to save the guys an extra trip in fetching her.

Summer and Marissa were finalizing last-minute packing in Summer's room. Marissa is sitting on Summer's bed, as Summer touches up her eyebrows in the nightstand mirror.

"This trip is gonna be all-time." Summer says excitedly. "Couple-fess 2004 here we come."

"Except Sum, Ryan and I aren't a couple." Marissa corrected her.

"Not yet, but you will be." Summer responded.

"Sum!" Marissa exclaimed.

"Well you just about are. Everyone can like see it." Summer defended herself.

"Yeh, but Ryan's not interested in a relationship yet." Marissa said kind of dejected.

"How do you know, have you asked him?" Summer replied persistently.

"No, but I can tell." Marissa replied.

"Coop, I think if you love him, you must just ask him." Summer said. "Now, on to more important stuff... where's my makeup bag?"

Marissa takes Summer makeup bag off the side table and hands it to her. Just then they here the call pull up the drive-way. Seth honks the horn loudly.

They rush downstairs to the car where the guys are waiting.

"Cohen, a little help please!" Summer barks as she struggles to get the front door open. Seth climbs out and helps Summer with her bags. Ryan does likewise for Marissa.

"God Summer!" Seth exclaims as he tries to understand Summer's 4 bags of belongings. "You don't wanna perhaps pack your BED in here too?" Summer just gives him a death-stare, which Seth has learnt to mean, 'not another word, Cohen'.

Seth lifts Summer's backs and puts them in the back. Ryan has already loaded Marissa's bags, which by the way is just two. As Seth puts Summer's bags down, Marissa, who is standing next to, but slightly behind Seth, notices something sticking out the side of one of the bags. A closer inspection reveals Princess Sparkles. Summer notices Marissa noticing.

"She needs a holiday too you know!" Summer defends herself. Marissa just smiles at her.

Once everything was loaded, the foursome got in and Seth started the car. Seth and Summer sat upfront with Marissa and Ryan taking up the rear.

Marissa and Ryan have not said much to each other. The tension is thick. Neither one quite knows what to say.

"So... Miami, hey?" Marissa finally spoke up.

"Yeh Coop, the home of the golden girls. Imagine... shopping, soaking up the rays, clubbing..." Summer responded before Ryan had a chance.

"... and tons of bikini-clad women!" Seth pipes in and gets a smack on the arm from Summer, which in turn brings laughter out of everyone else.

"It's gonna be great." Ryan responds. Marissa and Ryan smile at each other, a little more relaxed now.

AT THE AIRPORT

As they arrive at the airport, Seth's phone rings. He takes it out his pocket and recognizes the caller ID. He sighs and answers it.

"Yes, Dad, we're still alive and as yet nothing to report." Seth says as he answers the phone. There's a few seconds of silence. "Yes, will call you when we land." And with that Seth closes the phone again.

An hour later they are all checked in and ready to board. Summer and Marissa have walked off to go do some "window shopping" at the curio shops. Ryan and Seth are sipping down on smoothies at the local restaurant. Ryan is looking anxious and getting more and more nervous as time wears on.

"Ryan, what's up buddy?" Seth asks noticing that Ryan is not looking too good.

Ryan sips one long sip of his smoothie and says, "Is now a good time to tell you I've never been on an airplane before?"

Seth looks at him in disbelief. "You serious?"

"Yeh, never been on a plane." Ryan repeats.

"Don't worry man, it's like a rollercoaster..." Seth says and then stops as Ryan gives him a look. "It'll be fine. If you see any funny-looking people with sharp objects, or if you walk past them and they're ticking, just head straight for the exit... with a life-jacket."

Ryan looks at Seth even more nervous than before. "You're not helping." Ryan responds.

Just then the announcer comes over the radio. "American Airline flight number 8311 boarding at gate 2 now."

Seth pulls his ticket out his pocket and examines it. "That's us," he says and gulps down the rest of his smoothie in record time. Ryan just leaves his there. Seth slaps down a couple of bucks to pay for the drinks and the two of them get up. They look around for the ladies, but don't see them anywhere.

Suddenly, on the far-off side of the airport lounge, Summer and Marissa round the corner and head straight for the guys. Summer is carrying two full bags of stuff.

"Oh my god, Summer, where are you going to put that? We've got to board now!" Seth says exasperated and Ryan and Marissa just laugh at them.

"Ok, can it Cohen and give me your credit card. I'm gonna have to pay for the extra weight." Summer responds.

Seth looks at her with a smirk on his face and a naughty sparkle in his eye. "Summer, there's not an ounce of extra weight on you."

Before Seth can make another comment about the 'extra weight' thing Summer gives him a death stare again. He hands Summer the credit card and she goes to the counter to make arrangements for her parcels to go with.

Half an hour later they have boarded the plane and are stuffing their hand-luggage in the overhead compartments.

Seth insisted on getting the window seat as did Summer and Marissa. Ryan insisted on taking the isle. Eventually they flipped for it. Marissa got the window seat with Ryan next to her and behind them Summer and Seth sat, with Summer at the window. Seth sat there and just sulked.

Seth was still trying to negotiate, but it was not working. "How's about I take the window on the way back?"

Summer just looked annoyingly at him. "I won the toss fair and square."

"How long is this flight anyway?" Ryan asks as he settles in his seat, struggling with the belt.

"I don't know... a couple of hours? Maybe four or five." Marissa replies, clearly enjoying it that Ryan is tense about the whole flying thing.

Ryan eventually gets the buckle done up.

"We're not taking off for another 20 minutes or so." Marissa says.

"Rather safe than sorry." Ryan replies.

"Ladies and Gentlemen... good afternoon. My name is Francis and on behalf of the captain and crew of American Airline flight 8311, I'd like to wish you a safe and enjoyable journey." A beautiful 30-something blonde-haired airhostess announces over the speaker system. "The path ahead to Miami International promises to be a pleasant one with little to no turbulence expected. Please buckle up your seatbelts as we will be taking off within a few moments. If you encounter any problems with your seatbelt, please don't hesitate to call one of the airhostesses nearest you for assistance."

Everyone around begins fiddling with their seatbelts and buckles. About twenty minutes later a male voice blares over the sound system. "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I am please to announce we will be taking off within the next few minutes. Please enjoy the trip."

A minute later the plane starts to move.

"Wha... what was that?" Ryan says very nervously.

"THAT was the plane moving." Marissa replied with a laugh.

"Oh, yeah... knew that." Ryan responds forcing a half-smile.

The plane makes a few moves to get in position and then suddenly starts moving faster and faster. By now Ryan is almost a wreck.

"Oh, man... you had to pick a destination that required flying, didn't you?" Ryan said nervously turning his head slightly backward to Seth. He has shut his eyes tightly now, not daring to open them.

A few seconds later, but seems like hours to Ryan, the plane begins to lift. Ryan is now almost turning green.

Marissa gets an idea. "Maybe you just need something to distract your attention... take your mind off it for a while..."

"What could possibly..." Ryan starts and then suddenly stops, or rather is forced to stop as Marissa reaches over him and kisses him on the lips. Ryan's eyes quickly pop open and then close again as he remembers the Ferris-wheel incident... This feels almost exactly the same. He returns the kiss and for the first time in almost a year the two of them share a romantic, loving moment together.

As they break it off, they hear the airhostess come over the sound system again. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are now stable and you may loosen your seatbelts."

Seth and Summer just looked on in amazement. Eventually Seth broke the silence.

"Well, I'm glad about that. I was getting worried about having to share a room with you, Ryan..."

"It looks like we won't have to worry about that anymore." Summer responded.

Ryan and Marissa had hardly heard a word the airhostess, or their friends had said. They both stared lovingly in to each other's eyes.

AT THE COHEN'S

"So, we're home alone this weekend..." Sandy says as he comes alongside Kirsten and hugs her. She was standing in the kitchen preparing herself a bagel.

"Not exactly," the Nana says as she walks in. Kirsten and Sandy break off their hug. "But don't worry, I won't be around for much longer."

"Oh boy, here we go again..." Sandy says as he rolls his eyes.

"I mean, I'm going back home tomorrow." The Nana corrected him. "Two weeks of California is more than I can handle."

Kirsten and Sandy look at each other slightly shocked and surprised at this announcement. The Nana had made no indication before of her wanting to leave, but of course they did know she was not a fan of the Cali.

"You don't need to look so upset about it." The Nana said sarcastically as she picked up on their expressions. "Anyway, you will still have the house to yourselves tonight... I'm going out."

Kirsten and Sandy now looked ever more shocked. The Nana... on a date?

Again, seeing their blank, shocked faces, she clarifies, "You are not the only rich people I know, you know."

With that the Nana lights up a cigarette and walks out back to smoke. Kirsten and Sandy stand stunned and speechless.

The doorbell rang, snapping them out of their daze. Kirsten goes to answer it. As she opens the door another surprise awaits her. The slender, mid-40 year old figure of a woman with frazzled blonde hair stood in from of Kirsten.

"Dawn Atwood!" Kirsten exclaims and hugs Ryan's mom. "It's been a long, long time. How are you? Please, please come in."

Dawn enters and Kirsten closes the door.

"Yes, it's been long. I'm doing a lot better now than when I left you." Dawn responded. She was only carrying a small bag, which she had slung over her shoulder.

Sandy comes through from the kitchen. "Ah... I thought I heard a familiar voice. How've you been?"

"I'm good, thanks." Dawn replies.

"The boys are away this weekend on holiday, but I can call..." Sandy begins to say.

"No, actually I need to talk to the two of you first." Dawn responded. "I have some good news and possibly some bad news."

"Well there's no rush. You're welcome to stay here the weekend. The guys will only be back Monday." Kirsten offers.

AT MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

A few hours later the foursome land at Miami International, check in and make their way to the conveyor belt to fetch their luggage. Firstly Seth's bag comes off, then Marissa's two and then Summer's load of six bags. They had to get a trolley just for Summer's luggage alone. Another half an hour of waiting, and everyone's luggage has been counted for... everyone that is, except for Ryan. His bag is nowhere to be found.

An hour later and after various enquires at different counters, Ryan's luggage is finally found. The airport attendant apologizes profusely as she informs Ryan of what has happened.

"Mr Atwood, unfortunately your bags somehow got mixed up with a Mr A. Wood, and as a result are now sitting at Heathrow International airport." The attendant informs Ryan.

"Heathrow?" Seth gasps. "That in London!"

"Yes. I am incredibly sorry for the inconvenience this has coursed. We have made contact with our manager at Heathrow, who has ensured us that your luggage will be on the very next plane back to us." The attendant continues.

"And how long will that take?" Ryan asks with just a hit of agitation in his voice.

"It should be here within 24 hours, sir."

Ryan sighs, and then says, "Okay, thanks." He scribbles down his phone number and the name of the hotel they'll be staying at.

"We'll contact you just as soon as we have your luggage in our possession." The attendant says.

The four friends leave the airport area and hail a cab. Three-quarters of an hour later they pull up in front of the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Seth hands the cabbie a few notes to cover the fare and they climb out. Their luggage is picked up by the bellboy.

They stop in front of the hotel doors and look up at a magnificently designed hotel exterior. They stand together in a row, Seth and Summer arm in arm and Ryan and Marissa hand in hand, looking like they've been in love forever.

"Wow, this place is amazing." Marissa says with awe.

"This is gonna be such an awesome weekend." Seth responds excitedly.

"Yeah, except I don't have any clothes." Ryan says still annoyed at the situation.

"Well, you could always borrow one or two of my blouses. It's not a wife beater, but I'm sure it will do." Marissa says jokingly.

"Yeh, Chino, you'll look... quite beautiful." Summer responds joining in on the banter.

"Yes, Ryan... you'll look... quite pretty, especially with those big muscles of yours in a woman's shirt!" Seth says and then realizes what he just was saying... "Well, not that I've pictured your muscles in woman's shirts or anything..." His recovery is not good and everyone laughs and looks slightly screwy at Seth.

"Cohen! Are you being all homo again?" Summer says questioning Seth's manhood. Seth decides this time its best not to respond.

The doorman opens the door and the four of them walk inside and admire the amazing surroundings of the foyer.

Seth walks to the reception desk on his left.

"Reservation for 'Cohen'." He announces.

The receptionist looks up the reservation on the computer. She confirms the credit card details and hands Seth four sets of keys, 2 per room.

"Enjoy your stay with us, Mr Cohen." The receptionist greets warmly.

"I am sure I will." Seth replies smiling from ear to ear and takes the keys from her.

Seth returns to the others and they take the elevator to their rooms. They find that they have got two rooms next to each other on the tenth floor. The bellboy carries their luggage up.

Ryan and Marissa take the room on the right and Seth and Summer the one on the left. As they enter their rooms, they are left breathless by its exquisite beauty. It's an 800 sq ft suite, with floor to ceiling windows, a balcony with a stunning view of the Atlantic Ocean and South Beach. The bedroom has 1 king sized bed in it.

"Oh wow... this is awesome!" Seth says as he opens the sliding door on to the balcony. As he does he is hit by the crisp, refreshing night air off the ocean. Summer joins him and the two stand there arm around shoulder admiring the view.

In the room next door, Ryan and Marissa are just as awed by their room. It is identically spectacular. They admire the view as they stand staring out the windows. They walk in to the bedroom to check it out. It has a massive, king sized bed. Ryan flops down back on it, feeling totally exhausted. Marissa climbs on the bed and on top of Ryan.

"You know what we haven't done for a while?" Marissa says as she smiles at Ryan. He smiles back at her as she starts kissing him.

Seth comes charging in to their room. "This place is amazing!"

As he does Marissa quickly gets off Ryan, who throws his arms back and sighs.

"Oh... Sorry... you really don't waist time do you?" Seth responded. Summer comes up behind Seth and pushes him to the side slightly to get in.

"So, we're gonna go hit the night life here." Summer announces.

"Sum... its 11:30pm... I'm tired..." Marissa responded.

"Yeh, it's been a long flight... bit of jet lag." Ryan added.

"Dude, it's a 5 hour flight... you don't get jet lag." Seth said.

"I do." Ryan replied adamantly.

"Well, based on the record you two have, there ain't gonna be much sleeping going on in this room." Summer said sarcastically smiling.

"I dunno Summer... maybe some R&R, a bit of sleeping may not be such a bad idea... maybe some making out..." Seth said with a twinkle in his eye as he put his arm around Summer and kisses her on the forehead.

Summer thinks for a second. "Okay, let's go." She grabs his hand and pulls him out the room.

"Niiight..." Seth sounds out as he follows Summer.

Marissa and Ryan just smile at each other and start kissing again.

AT THE RITZ CARLTON HOTEL

The following morning finds Seth and Summer in the dining hall enjoying breakfast. Seth as usual is reading the comics section of the paper and Summer is reading the fashion section. They both turn their respective pages simultaneously. Seth picks up a piece of French toast and Summer sips some coffee. Both are engulfed in what they are reading and funnily enough seem to not notice the other one nearby. The situation is very similar to their trip to Tijuana.

"I wonder what Ryan and Marissa are doing?" Summer says as she puts her cup of coffee down.

Seth lowers his paper and looks over the top at Summer. "I don't think you need to wonder too much about that one."

"Well it's nearly 10am... they need to get up." Summer responds coolly.

"What are you suggesting, my love?" Seth says as he raises his eyebrows.

"Just come with me." Summer replies.

The put their papers down, Seth grabs the last piece of French Toast and they head back to their room. As they get to Ryan and Marissa's room, Summer stops, turns and bangs loudly on the door, completely ignoring the "Please Don't Disturb" sign hanging on the door handle.

"Room Service!" Seth says, faking a British accent.

"We didn't order any room service." Comes the puzzled reply from Ryan.

"Okay, then, Housekeeping!" Seth responds this time with an Australian accent.

Summer sighs annoyingly and decides the straight approach is best. "God, Coop! Open up, it's like almost lunch time!"

A minute later the door opens and Seth and Summer talk in. They find Marissa still in her night gown and Ryan in a pair of boxers and a wife beater.

"You wanna cover up, Chino?" Summer says bluntly.

"In what?" Ryan replies back.

"So dude, it's like 10:15am... what have you two been doing all morning?" Seth questions.

"You really wanna know?" Ryan says squinting his eyes.

"Actually, GP, no." Seth responds.

"So, Ryan, what are you going to wear today?" Marissa says with a smile on her face. "I have a floral pink or a peach colour blouse."

"Peach is a fruit." Seth tries to correct her but just gets looks from Summer and Marissa. "Go with the peach."

Ryan just looks at them impassively.

"Dude, you can borrow some of my stuff... It's not gonna be a tank-top or anything, but it may work." Seth offers.

"Uhmmm... no. Summer and I will go out and get something you." Marissa responds. "Just wait here."

Summer and Marissa giggle and Ryan looks pleadingly at Seth.

"Hey, I'd like to come with... help you pick out something." Seth says trying to save his friend.

"Cohen! What do you know about fashion?" Summer challenges. "No, me and Coop have this covered. You two just stay here and... do whatever it is you do."

Half an hour later, Marissa has changed and her and Summer head out to the stores. Ryan and Seth sit in the lounge watching Cartoon Network. Firstly it's a re-run of Pinky And The Brain, and then Lilo and Stitch.

Almost two hours later the ladies arrive back with bags full of stuff. They throw a small bag at Ryan. "Chino, that's your stuff." Summer says. Her and Marissa separate the remaining bags of clothes between the two of them.

"I just dunno man..." Seth says shaking his head. "Women, shops and credit cards... a recipe for disaster I think."

Ryan just laughs as he gets up and goes to the room to take a shower and change in to his clothes.

Half an hour passes, Seth is sitting on the couch still watching the Cartoon Network with Marissa and Summer occasionally interrupting his viewing with a little impromptu fashion parade inspired by the new clothes they've just bought. Ryan exits the room wearing a pair of jeans, a black pair of Sketches and a t-shirt that says, 'I Love South Beach' on it.

"A little minty, but it'll do." Seth responds to Ryan's attire.

By this time it's almost 1pm and the foursome are starving. Well, Ryan and Marissa are anyway, since they hadn't had any breakfast.

"Ok, I don't know about you, but I'm getting thin." Seth gets up off the couch. "What we doing for lunch?"

After a brief discussion they decide to go to South Beach, grab a bite to eat and check out the scenes.

AT THE COHEN'S RESIDENCE

Kirsten and Dawn just walked in from a morning shopping spree, where they raided every fashion store in Newport Beach.

"Oh, wow... I have not shopped like that in... well ever, I think." Dawn says exasperated, yet satisfied.

"Ah, ladies!" Sandy exclaims as he walks in with a stainless steel bowl full of meat he has just finished cooking on the BBQ. "I see you made a generous donation to Armani and Gucci again."

Kirsten gives him a sarcastic look. "We're just going to go freshen up." She says and the two ladies walk upstairs with their bags full of supplies.

"Lunch will be ready in 10 minutes." Sandy announces behind them.

Moments later the three of them sit down at the Cohen dining room table which is topped with delicious stake, rolls and various salads.

"I didn't make it, so you can enjoy." Kirsten says to Dawn jokingly.

"Thank heavens for that!" Sandy responds in jest.

They each dish up what they want and eat and make small talk.

"So, Dawn, what's been happening on the home front?" Sandy enquires.

"Things are definitely looking up. I have moved to Reno; got a nice small apartment there close to the White-Water Park." Dawn responds.

"Ah, that's great." Sandy says with enthusiasm.

"Yeah. Job-wise I have secured an income as a teller..., it's not much, but it pays the bills." Dawn continues.

"And how's Trey been doing?" Kirsten asks.

"Good, he's good. He's being released on parole in a few weeks." Dawn answers. She then gets a solemn look on her face and puts her fork down. "That is actually partly why I am here. Part of the conditions is that Trey does not leave the states for the duration of the parole. However, I've been talking to him, and I'd like him to move to Reno with me." Dawn says. She looks up at Sandy. "I was hoping... we were hoping, maybe..."

"Oh, yeah, say no more... I'll see if I can pull some strings for you." Sandy responds. "I cannot promise anything, but I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, I couldn't ask for anything more..." Dawn says with gratitude. She looks sombre again at Kirsten and then at Sandy. "Actually there is one more thing..."

Sandy and Kirsten look at each other and then at her. Dawn proceeds to explain.

DOWN AT SOUTH BEACH

The four friends walk along the boardwalk contemplating where to eat lunch. Eventually they settle on Joe's Crab Shack.

They are shown to a four-seater table by a waiter named Dylan. As they sit down he takes their orders. "So, what I can get you?"

They place their orders and drinks and Dylan goes off.

A few minutes later their food arrives and they chow down.

Seth eyes a nice sized French fry on Summer's plate, which he decides to try and acquire. He makes small talk with her to distract her.

"So Summer... how's the dancing lessons going?" Seth says nonchalantly.

"Cohen?" Summer says confused. "Are you doing the weed again? I'm not on dancing lessons!"

"Oh, I just thought that... HEY! LOOK OVER THERE! IT'S BEN AFFLECK!" Seth says, and points behind Summer. As she turns around he quickly plunges his fork on to Summer's plate and successfully skewers the fry.

"Bull's eye!" Seth says in delight.

Ryan and Marissa are now in hysterics as they realize what's just happened.

Summer turns around and realizes that she has just been the object of a Cohen prank. She looks at Seth through slit eyes and decides she's going to get her French fry back. She reaches over the table and tries to grab for the fry, but in the process spills her drink all over another couple next to them.

Ten minutes later the four friends exit the restaurant, walking past a very angry looking manager.

"Well, there's another outlet we've alienated ourselves from!" Marissa observes.

As they leave, Dylan, their waiter, hands Ryan a small piece of paper, and smiles at him.

Ryan turns it over and reads: YOU ARE INVITED TO THE HOUSE PARTY OF THE CENTURY. 10PM. DECEMBER 11. And it also gave the address.

Seth takes it from Ryan and reads it too. "Hey, that's awesome! It's tonight!"

"So...?" Ryan asks.

"Sooo! So, we're so going!" Seth responds excitedly. Ryan looks at him with an 'oh really' kind of look.

"Ryan, come on man! Think about... South Beach... house party... the women here are..." Seth stops as Summer flat-hands him in the stomach. He rubs, and finishes his sentence. "... not as beautiful at Newport babes." Ryan and Marissa laugh at them.

"Maybe it won't be such a bad idea. I mean we are on vacation... we should go and just enjoy ourselves." Marissa says, mostly at Ryan.

"Yeah... no clothes, remember!" Ryan points out.

"Well, if the airport has called by then, you can go like that..." Marissa points out. "Just throw one of Seth's shirts over the T and you'll be fine... besides you do look kinda cute in Skechers." She says and side-hugs him smiling.

They walk along the beach and eventually head back to the hotel.

AT THE SOUTH BEACH OPEN HOUSE PARTY

The four friends arrive at the house where the party is happening at around 10:30pm. The house is located on the beach, and the back door leads right out on to the sea sand. The music is blaring from a mile off.

Ryan's clothes did not arrive in time and as a result he still has the same attire on, only with a button shirt over the T shirt.

They enter the house. It takes a few minutes for their eyes to become accustomed to the dimly light room... in fact, the only light is coming from a strobe at the very far end of the room. It is a large open-plan kitchen/lounge room. On the right side of the room is a make-shift stage area with a bar away to the left of it. At the centre of the stage is a pole and a stripper dancing seductively around the pole.

"This party is awesome!" Seth yells above the thumping music.

However, as their eyes become accustomed to the light and the surroundings, they realize something is strange about this party.

Summer is the first to notice it and make a comment. She turns to Marissa. "Coop, does something seem funny to you?"

Marissa looks around and responds. "Yeah. There are only two girls at this party... us."

"Except for them." Summer says with shock on her face and points over to a group of drag queens standing in the right hand corner of the room.

On the table, dancing around the pole, the stripper is shirtless, wearing a pair of fireman overall pants and black boots.

Seth turns to Ryan. "Uhmm... dude, that stripper is..."

"Muscular." Summer says with delight.

"Masculine." Seth says at the same time, but with repulsion.

Just then the stripper pulls his pants off, revealing only a red pair of briefs.

"Coop! This party is amazing!" Summer says with a huge smile on her face as she turns to Marissa.

"This party is over!" Ryan says firmly and turns with the others to leave.

Just then Dylan, the waiter from the restaurant earlier that day, approaches the group. He walks up directly to Ryan and stands a little too close for comfort.

"Hey doll, I was getting worried you weren't going to make it." Dylan says. "This is my boyfriend, Tyrone." He introduces a queen standing next to him. Ryan just kind forces a polite smile, but very nervously.

"Oooh, Dyl, you are right..." Tyrone says as he hangs on to Dylan's shoulder and pervs over Ryan. "... He is a cutie... his hair is sooo wild and those gorgeous blue eyes are to die for!"

By this stage Seth cannot hold it in any longer. He virtually packs up laughing, which takes Marissa and Summer down too. Dylan and Tyrone look on unimpressed.

"Mind sharing the joke, honey?" Tyrone says with a blasé look on his face and places his hands on his hips.

Seth quickly attempts to contain his laughter, but is failing miserably. "OH LOOK! BRAD PITT!" Seth says and points behind the two gays.

"Oh my god! Where! Where! Is he here too!" Dylan exclaims and turns around.

"That's our cue!" Seth says quickly to Ryan and the four of them turn around and head for the door. However, they are stopped by Dylan and Tyrone.

"Going so soon? The party's only getting started!" Dylan says as he and Tyrone take Seth and Ryan by the arm respectively. They pull them in the centre of the room. Both Seth and Ryan look back behind them with pleading looks at their girlfriends, who are laughing hysterically at this stage.

"So, what's your name anyway, sweetie?" Dylan says as he puts his arm around Seth.

Seth looks at him feeling very sick. "Sloan... Sloan Wilson."

"That's such a cute name!" Tyrone comments. "Let us buy you beauties some drinks."

"No, it's fine." Ryan responds uneasily. "Actually, we're got to go... we're..."

"We're... Rabbis.... You know Jewish... fasting... all that, so..." Seth picks up.

"We don't judge dear... everyone's welcomed here, and anything goes in South Beach." Dylan responds. He turns to Ryan. "I must say, this afternoon at Joe's, I was admiring those shoes and the T-shirt... it is so becoming on you!"

Ryan looks at him and nervously smiles.

"But of course I'm more interested in what's UNDER the T-shirt." Tyrone says and tries to put his hand on Ryan's chest. Ryan quickly moves so as to avoid him.

Meanwhile, Summer and Marissa are thoroughly enjoying themselves hanging around a group of guys just outside the front door. "Coop, who'd have thought we could have so much fun with a bunch of guys and not worry about like relationships and heartache?" Summer observes.

Marissa just laughs as she takes a sip of her drink.

Back inside, the boys are not having a very good time of things. Dylan and Tyrone insisted on buying drinks.

Ryan turns to Seth and whispers closely in his ear. "Ok, we need some serious kind of diversion."

Seth looks back at Ryan very uncomfortable. "I'm drawing a blank... besides, I tried earlier at the door, it's your turn."

Ryan takes charge. "Just follow my lead." He climbs up on to the stage and takes the only microphone there. "Everyone! Everyone! Can I have your attention please?" It takes a few seconds for the music to soften and everyone turns to look at Ryan. "I'm proud to announce that our good friends, Dylan and Tyrone have decided to make it official... They are going to tie the knot and have said all drinks are on them!"

With that everyone begins to clap. Ryan puts the microphone down, climbs off the stage and grabs Seth. "Okay, we're out of here." They quickly make a bee-line for the door.

As they exit, they pull Summer and Marissa with them and climb in to the rented car they hired. Summer and Marissa were laughing uncontrollably.

They get back to the hotel and take the elevator up to their rooms. Marissa, still laughing a lot, play-pinches Ryan's cheek and mockingly repeats Tyrone's words from earlier. "Oooh... you are right, he is a cutie!"

Ryan and Seth stand next to each other feeling very sick. Marissa and Summer are still laughing.

"I think I need an aspirin." Ryan says.

"I think I need a shower..." Seth responds and rubs himself down all over.

As they get to their rooms, Marissa unlocks their room and Summer theirs.

"Come cutie... it's past your bedtime." Marissa says and pulls Ryan inside.

"Yeah night." Summer says. "SLOAN and I are turning in too!"

STILL IN MIAMI

Sunday the four friends went down to the airport to get Ryan's bag which had been recovered after airport personnel phoned to confirm his belongings had arrived.

"Just think, Ryan, your clothes have travelled further than you have!" Seth observed and got a smile out of Ryan.

The rest of the day they spent hitting all the tourist attractions, malls, beaches and just about anything and everything they could find time to do.

Also, after the Saturday excursion at the gay house party, the four of them decided not to try out any more parties or nightclubs.

BACK IN NEWPORT

Sunday came and went in a flash, and Monday morning found Ryan, Marissa, Seth and Summer flying back home to Newport. They had had an incredible time and were somewhat disappointed about having to go back home.

Jimmy had offered to fetch them from the airport, as he had the day off work. Ryan and Seth were dropped off first. After they kissed their girlfriends good bye and thanked Jimmy for the lift, they walked up to the Cohen front door, as Jimmy pulled away. They were still joking and laughing about the events of the weekend as they entered the house.

"Ah, good afternoon boys." Sandy greeted getting up as he heard the door open. "How was the trip?"

"Good... it was good." Ryan responded. "Just a little tired."

"Well that's to be expected; you've just travelled across four time zones!" Sandy responded.

On the couch in the living room in front of them, sat Kirsten and another woman Ryan or Seth couldn't quite make out, as she had here back to them. However, as Ryan started speaking, she got up and turned around.

"Mom." Ryan says in shock. "Hey."

"Hey kid." Dawn said and walked up to Ryan and hugged him. He returned the hug, but there was clearly no connection made. She stood back and held him by the shoulders at arm's length. "Let me take a look at you... you are looking more handsome by the day!"

"Funny, that's almost what the guys said at that party..." Seth said amusingly, but quickly shut up as he got a look from Ryan. "I'm... just gonna go... this way." Seth went upstairs to his room.

"So, mom... what you're doing here?" Ryan enquired slightly confused.

"What? Can't a mother come visit her son once in a while?" Dawn responded.

"Dawn was telling us about her move to Reno and having Trey go with her." Kirsten stated.

"Yeah, I've heard. That's great." Ryan responded.

"Come sit down for a while... you must be exhausted from your trip." Dawn invited Ryan to sit with them on the couch.

"We'll just leave you two to do some catching up." Kirsten said as she and Sandy went in to the kitchen.

When they were in the other room, and out of ear-shot, Kirsten looked at Sandy and said with concern, "Maybe we should be there with him... it's not going to be an easy decision."

"No, it's not, but it is one he will have to make on his own. There is not much we can do." Sandy responded and hugged his wife.

Kirsten looked tearful in to Sandy's eyes. "I could not stand to loose him again."

They just stood there and hugged for a while.

They spent the next while catching up on events of the last year. Ryan told her about Theresa, and how things had turned out with the baby. Dawn told her son how she had moved to Reno to try and make a better life for herself and how things were really beginning to look up for her.

"And Trey is coming out of jail soon." Dawn said as she ended her fifteen-minute long story.

"Yeah, that's really great. I'm glad for him, you know...." Ryan responded sincerely.

"Yeah, it is. He has a second chance now to make something of himself." Dawn said. She looked up at Ryan. "... just like you have done." They smiled at each other.

"Do you know what he plans on doing?" Ryan asked.

"Well, we've discussed it, and he's decided he'd like to come back with me... try and recover something of our family again." Dawn responded. "There are a few complications with the parole, but Mr Cohen... Sandy... has offered to take a look at the case. If it works out, then he'll get a mechanic job in Reno or something."

There's a moment of silence in the room for a while.

Back in the kitchen, Sandy and Kirsten are sitting at the counter sipping coffee. Kirsten decides to make two extra cups and takes them to the living room for Ryan and Dawn. They graciously thank her and she returns to the kitchen.

Sandy and Seth have started playing PS2 games together and are very intensely involved in the game. Kirsten on the other hand in more interested on the goings on in the living room. She sits in anticipation sipping on her coffee.

Back in the living room, Dawn eventually breaks the silence.

"Ryan." Dawn says her son's name solemnly. Ryan looks up at her. "There is something important we need to discuss... something I need to ask you to consider very seriously."

Ryan doesn't say anything. He just looks at her with apprehension.

"Trey and I have talked and with him coming back home, we've thought it would be nice to try and have a go at being a family again." Dawn says and then stops as she sips her coffee. Ryan takes a sip of his too as he can almost hear her next request before she speaks.

"Ryan... I'd like you to come back with me to Reno." Dawn's words hit Ryan hard. He had anticipated it after the phone conversation with her on Thanksgiving Day, but still, it took him by surprise. He sat back on the couch, no saying a word.

"Uhmm..." Ryan was struggling to get any kind of response out. All he could think about was Marissa... they had just got back together, and his life in Newport was almost on track again.

"I thought you may be a little more excited." Dawn says slightly stunned at her son's reaction. She honestly thought he'd be more happy about the prospects of them being a family again. "I know I haven't been the best mom, but I have changed. We can start over." Dawn smiles at Ryan.

"Yeah, I mean, it's a lot to process all at once." Ryan responds. "I mean, there's a lot to consider. I can't just get up and leave tomorrow."

Dawn could see it he was not talking this too well. "You don't have to make a decision right away. I mean, I'll be leaving in the morning for Reno again, and Trey comes out only in two weeks time. You can use that time to make your decision and any necessary arrangements."

They finish their conversation and Ryan gets up and walks through the kitchen giving Kirsten a half-greeting as he walks past her. He walks out the back door and in to the poolhouse.

Dawn comes through to the kitchen where Kirsten is still sitting with her now empty cup of coffee.

"So, how did he take it?" Kirsten asked concerned.

"I don't know. He didn't say a word." Dawn responded.

"Do you really think it's such a good idea? I mean, he's virtually got his whole life here... school, his friends..." Kirsten says trying once more to convince Dawn that this would not be a good idea.

"I know, but you have the perfect family. I have the opportunity to have something of that now too." Dawn says with love and determination in her eyes. "But it's all up to Ryan now."

Kirsten sympathetically gives Dawn a hug.


End file.
